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

St Mirren will welcome Scottish Premiership champions Celtic to the Marbill Coaches Stadium on Saturday.

The hosts are second in the standings with 10 points, two points behind the visitors in top spot.

Match preview

St Mirren have enjoyed a fantastic start to the 2026-27 campaign, winning six, drawing one and losing two of their nine matches across all competitions.

The Saints started the term by finishing top of Group C in the Scottish League Cup thanks to three wins and one defeat, followed by back-to-back wins over Falkirk and St Johnstone in the league.

Craig McLeish's side were handed a humbling 5-1 defeat by Rangers in the second round of the League Cup, but they have quickly put that result behind them with a draw and win in the league.

St Mirren were unfortunate to have dropped points in the draw with Motherwell, conceding a 93rd-minute equaliser, but they got back to winning ways against Kilmarnock last time out.

Now faced with undoubtedly their toughest test of the term to date, McLeish will be hoping his side can pull off a shock victory against the reigning champions.

Celtic have remained flawless in domestic competitions thus far, winning all of their five matches across the Scottish Premiership and Scottish League Cup.

Despite their superb start in domestic competition, the Bhoys did endure a catastrophic elimination from the Champions League qualifiers, meaning Martin O'Neill's side will compete in the Europa League this term.

After taking a 4-0 aggregate lead against LASK Linz in their playoff qualifying round, with a 3-0 first-leg win followed by going 1-0 ahead in the second leg, Celtic conceded five goals without reply to lose 5-4 on aggregate.

The Bhoys have seemingly put that result behind them, subsequently winning against Falkirk (2-1) and Aberdeen (3-0), and they will now be looking to secure a third straight win and fifth consecutive league victory on Saturday.

Celtic have dominated this fixture in recent years, although St Mirren did record a memorable 3-1 win in the Scottish League Cup final in December 2025.

St Mirren Scottish Premiership form:

St Mirren form (all competitions):

Celtic Scottish Premiership form:

Celtic form (all competitions):

Team News

St Mirren are anticipated to be without Liam Donnelly, Malik Dijksteel and Keanu Baccus until later this month, while Jonah Ayunga is ruled out until January.

Killian Phillips and Marcus Fraser have both missed the last two matches with knocks, but both could be in line for a return to the squad on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Celtic are contending with injuries to Callum Osmand, Kieran Tierney, Kasper Hogh, Alistair Johnston and Jota.

Camilo Duran has scored six goals in seven competitive appearances since joining Celtic, including three goals in his last two games, and the forward should continue to lead the line here.

St Mirren possible starting lineup:

Chapman; Ramsay, Gogic, Fieldson, John; Nsio, Carr; Mochrie, Taylor, Kabia; Agrafiotis

Celtic possible starting lineup:

Sinisalo; Donovan, Carter-Vickers, Trusty, Scales; McGregor; Hassan, Nygren, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Hyun-Jun; Duran

We say: St Mirren 1-3 Celtic

Although St Mirren have had a strong start to the season, Celtic remain flawless in domestic competition and are undoubtedly the favourites to claim all three points.

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