Preview:St Mirren vs Celtic - prediction, team news, lineups

St Mirren, battling near the bottom of the table, will take on defending champions Celtic on Saturday night in the Scottish Premiership.

The hosts are ninth in the standings with 10 points from 11 games, while the visitors are second in the table with 23 points from 11 league fixtures.

Match preview

St Mirren initially made a strong start to the 2025-26 season, winning three and drawing one of their four Scottish League Cup group games in order to book their progression into the second round.

While they were unable to carry that winning form into their first two league games, losing one and drawing one, they did manage to brilliantly beat Hearts on penalties in the league cup second round.

That penalty triumph sparked a promising run of two wins and three draws (including a penalty victory over Kilmarnock in the league cup third round) in their next five games, but they have failed to keep that run going in the matches since.

St Mirren have now lost four of their last five Scottish Premiership matches, alongside a 2-2 draw with Hearts, meaning they have fallen down the standings into ninth place with 10 points, leaving the Saints narrowly a point above the drop zone.

Despite their recent league difficulties, Stephen Robinson's side have managed to book their place in the final of the Scottish League Cup thanks to beating Motherwell 4-1 in the semi-final, with the Saints set to face Celtic at Hampden Park.

With four league matches before that final, Robinson will be hoping his side can halt their current league struggles and build some positive momentum before facing Celtic.

However, the Saints face a difficult test in starting that streak on Saturday as they will face their upcoming Scottish League Cup final opponents.

While Celtic may not have been at their formidable best so far this season, the Bhoys are seemingly getting back into their stride in domestic competitions under interim manager Martin O'Neill.

Celtic's turbulent campaign started during the summer transfer window, with fans protesting regarding the lack of spending from the board, while Brendan Rodgers also vocalised his frustrations at their summer spending.

Results were initially encouraging, with Celtic remaining undefeated in normal time in their opening 11 fixtures across all competitions, including five draws and six wins.

However, that run did also see Celtic disastrously crash out of the Champions League to Kairat Almaty on penalties in the playoff qualifying round, relegating them to the Europa League.

Their overall results also soon take a turn for the worse, with Celtic failing to win any of their first two Europa League matches, as well as suffering back-to-back league defeats to Dundee and league leaders Hearts.

Rodgers swiftly resigned following the loss to the Jambos, with O'Neill appointed on an interim basis, and the returning boss has begun to turn Celtic's fortunes around.

The Bhoys have since won three and lost only one of their four games, including booking their place in the Scottish League Cup final by beating rivals Rangers 3-1 in the semi-finals.

With their form beginning to improve, Celtic will be eager to maintain their momentum as they look to close the gap on Hearts at the top of the standings, as the Bhoys currently trail the leaders by seven points while also boasting a game in hand over the Jambos.

St Mirren Scottish Premiership form:

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St Mirren 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

St Mirren will be without Mark O'Hara for this match due to an ongoing foot injury, although the midfielder is expected to return in the coming weeks.

Dan N'Lundulu has scored three goals in his last four appearances for the Saints, and the forward could partner Jonah Ayunga in attack in this one.

As for Celtic, Alistair Johnston, Callum Osmand, Cameron Carter-Vickers, Jota, Kelechi Iheanacho and Marcelo Saracchi are all out with injury problems.

After defeating Kilmarnock 4-0 in their last game before the international break, O'Neill may opt to name a largely unchanged side against St Mirren, including a frontline of Daizen Maeda, Johnny Kenny and Sebastian Tounekti.

St Mirren possible starting lineup:

George; Fraser, King, Freckleton; Richardson, Phillips, Donnelly, Baccus, John; N'Lundulu, Ayunga

Celtic possible starting lineup:

Schmeichel; Simpson-Pusey, Trusty, Scales, Tierney; McCowan, McGregor, Hatate; Maeda, Kenny, Tounekti

We say: St Mirren 1-3 Celtic

Celtic have got back to winning ways since the return of O'Neill, and given their clear superiority on paper, we expect another comfortable win for the Bhoys.

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