Hoops Take Aim At Lions

Hoops Take Aim At Lions
~~~~~~~~~~ Official TC Match Preview ~~~~~~~~~~


Calmac is back! The Skipper returned to hit the late winner against Aberdeen at the weekend


Celtic Park, Glasgow
Wednesday, 21 December 2022
19.45 GMT

The Hoops return to Parkhead looking for a tenth straight league win when they host the visit of Livingston on Wednesday.

The Bhoys dominated a one way contest against Aberdeen at the weekend, and in the end walked away with the deserved result, even if it did take a late goal from returning skipper Callum McGregor to seal the win.

However, there was clearly a little lack of sharpness on display throughout the side - especially in front of goal - but the bottom line is that they were able to return to Glasgow with the points in the bag.

And now attention turns to the visit of Livingston, who have all too often proven to be a true thorn in the side of the Celts in recent years.


A rare glimpse of Joe Hart in action on what was otherwise an easy afternoon against the Dons

If there are defining characteristics that best defines David Martindale's side is that they are stubborn and have had a way of making life difficult for the Hoops, both home and away.

Just to underline how obstinate an opponant they have been, the current run of back to back wins (from March & October) is the first and only time since the Lions returned to the Premiership in 2018/19 that this has been achieved.

In other words, it took more than 4 full seasons and over a dozen clashes between these sides for Celtic to record a single instance of back to back wins in this fixture.

The point being, Livingston are not a team to be underestimated - not at all!

The visitors could, however, potentially be a little rusty heading into Wednesday's game, after their match against Dundee United at the weekend had to be postponed due to the weather.

That said, the fact that they were sitting in fourth at the time of the league shutdown gives some indication of how well they had been travelling up until that point.

No doubt, they will seek to once again prove a prickly and determined challenge to contend with, so the Hoops will need to be on their game and can't allow for any complacency to ensure all 3 points are safely secured.


October: Greg Taylor scores against Livingston in the 3-0 win the last time these sides met

By the Numbers​

• The Hoops are currently on a 9 Premiership game winning streak going into this match.

• Saturday's clean sheet against the Dons was just the 2nd in the league since the start of September - the only other one being the 3-0 away win at Livingston.

• The Bhoys have scored 16 goals in the last 15 minutes of games in the league this season - already matching what they did in the entire of 2021/22.

• The current run of two consecutive wins against Livingston is a first since the visitors returned to the Premiership in 2018.

• Livingston have recorded 0-0 draws on 3 of their past 6 visits to Parkhead - including their last visit in October 2021.

• The Lions have scored just 7 goals on their travels this season - and just 2 in the first half of those games, while conceding 12 - 8 of which have been in the last 30min of those games.

Liel Abada impressed after coming on at halftime against Aberdeen at the weekend

Team News

The Bhoys will continue without Josip Juranovic, whose Croatian national team secured the 3rd place at the World Cup, while new signings Alistair Johnston and Yuki Kobayashi are ineligible to play until January and James McCarthy is also out with a continued hamstring problem.

Moritz Jenz remains one booking away from picking up an automatic suspension.

The visitors will be without long term absentee Tom Parkes (knee) and new signing Steven Bradbury, who is also ineligible til January, however Jamie Brandon could come into contention.

Referee: Euan Anderson

Anderson made his top flight debut in 2015 and has officiated 88 Premiership matches in total since. This will be his 7th Premiership match of the season overall and the second taking charge of a game involving Celtic, after the 2-1 win over St Johnstone in October.

Celtic's Overall Record
M: 13 W: 11 D: 1 L: 1

VAR: Steven Kirkland​

~~~~ Head to Head ~~~~

Overall
P: 31 W: 22 D: 7 L: 2​

Last 5 Meetings
W W D L W

~~~~ 2022/23 Form ~~~~ ​

Overall
W W W W L ~ D W W L D

SPFL
W W W W W ~ D W W L D​