Preview: Kilmarnock vs Celtic - prediction, team news, lineups

Kilmarnock will take on Celtic in the Scottish Premiership on Sunday, 14 September, with the visitors on the brink of civil war.

Brendan Rodgers has come out swinging this week and is putting pressure on board members to resign after stories about the Celtic manager were leaked to the press during the international break.

The Hoops will look to put all that to one side for 90 minutes on Sunday, but Kilmarnock will surely smell blood and an opportunity to pull off a famous victory over the champions.

Match preview

Aside from the tensions off the field, Celtic will be relatively pleased with how they have started the new Scottish Premiership season, picking up ten points from their first four matches played.

Those results mean that the Bhoys are in the very familiar position of first place, and even at this early stage of the season, there is a feeling that nobody in the division is going to be able to get close to them as the season progresses.

Prior to the international break, Celtic played out a boring 0-0 draw with Rangers at Ibrox; while the Gers were the better team on the day, the stalemate was enough to ensure that the six-point gap between the two Glasgow clubs remained in place.

It is the club's poor performances in Europe that have caused tensions at board level. Being eliminated from the Champions League by Kazakh side FC Kairat was a sore one, but if everyone can make up, then it could turn out to be a blessing in disguise, with Celtic far better equipped to take on the Europa League.

Their first second-tier continental clash is on the horizon, which could alter how Rodgers uses his players in the coming weeks.

Kilmarnock, on the other hand, have had a slightly bizarre start to the campaign in that they have drawn all four of their Scottish Premiership matches so far this season.

As a result, they can boast that they are also unbeaten in the league this term, which could prove to be important the longer the match stays goalless.

Killie's unbeaten start has been helped by a relatively friendly fixture list thus far; this will be their first match against either of the two Old Firm clubs this season, but they will fancy their chances of taking something from the match.

Last season, Kilmarnock finished fourth from bottom, which was quite the fall from grace from the fourth-placed finish they secured a year earlier.

One thing that is going against them this weekend is their recent record against Celtic, as the Bhoys have won each of their last five competitive matches against Killie.

Kilmarnock Scottish Premiership form:

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Kilmarnock form (all competitions):

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Celtic Scottish Premiership form:

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Celtic form (all competitions):

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Team News

Kilmarnock are missing two players for the match against Celtic, with Matty Kennedy ruled out long-term and Brad Lyon nursing a hamstring problem.

Considering his team has proven they are hard to beat this season, it is unlikely that manager Stuart Kettlewell will make any changes to his defence or goalkeeper, despite the temptation to put an extra man back there to combat Celtic's qualities.

After signing for the club in the summer, Marcus Dackers will be hoping that he does not have to wait too much longer for his first Scottish Premiership goal.

Brendan Rodgers has plenty on his plate right now, so injuries to his players are the last thing that he needs. For this one, Celtic will be without Jota, Alistair Johnson and Auston Trusty, but they should get the job done without them.

Celtic were busy at the transfer deadline, which means we could see the debuts of Kelechi Iheanacho and Sebastian Tounektl.

Kilmarnock possible starting lineup:

Stryjek; Brannan, Stranger, Mayo, Deas, Thompson; Watson, Magennis, Polworth; Daniels, Dackers

Celtic possible starting lineup:

Schmeichel; Donovan, Carter-Vickers, Scales, Tierney; Nygren, McGregor, Hatate; Tounekti, Balikwisha, Maeda

We say: Kilmarnock 1-1 Celtic

Under normal circumstances, we would be predicting a heavy win for Celtic, but the ongoing issues off the field are bound to have an impact on the pitch, as they so invariably do.

What is more, Kilmarnock have been solid in all four of their matches and are not the type of team to just roll over on Sunday afternoon.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.