Newly-crowned Scottish Premiership champions Celtic will look to end their league campaign on a high when they welcome St Mirren to Parkhead on Saturday afternoon.
The two teams last met just over a month ago when the Hoops secured a 3-0 home victory courtesy of second-half goals from Reo Hatete, Kyogo Furuhashi and Adam Idah.
Match preview
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Celtic have retained their Premiership crown for the third successive season after cruising to a 5-0 victory away against Kilmarnock on Wednesday night - their 28th league win of the season.
The Hoops immediately put their stamp on proceedings at McDiarmid Park and were three goals ahead inside the first 35 minutes thanks to strikes from Idah, Daizen Maeda and James Forrest, before the club's Player of the Year Matt O'Riley netted a second-half brace to seal maximum points and yet another title.
Celtic have come out on top once again at the expense of their bitter rivals Rangers and have clinched this season's title with a game to spare, now sitting six points clear of the Gers in second place.
The Hoops remain the dominant force in Scotland as they have now won 12 top-flight titles in the last 13 seasons, including three under the tutelage of manager Brendan Rodgers, who claims that he "never had any doubts" about securing top spot after returning to the club for his second stint in charge last summer following the exit of Ange Postecoglou.
Celtic will soon endeavour to complete a domestic double and win the Old Firm Scottish Cup final on May 25, but they will first shift their attention to Saturday's clash with St Mirren before receiving their Premiership trophy after the match.
The Glaswegian giants will be confident of success against St Mirren as they have not lost any of their last eight meetings, winning each of the last four by an aggregate score of 10-1.
September 2022 was the last time that St Mirren came out on top against Celtic, winning 2-0 on home soil, and they will hope that the Hoops take their foot off the gas, having now secured the title, as they attempt to claim another surprise result on Saturday.
The Saints are also seeking to end the campaign on a high as they have only won two of their last 10 league matches (D3 L5), although they did claim maximum points from their last away fixture against Dundee - winning 3-1 earlier this month.
Despite their inconsistent run of form, St Mirren are guaranteed to secure their highest league finish since returning to the top flight five years ago, as they sit fifth in the Premiership standings, a slight improvement on last season's sixth-placed finish.
Stephen Robinson's side were held to a 2-2 draw at home to Hearts on Wednesday, but a fifth-placed finish means that they have secured their spot in the qualifying rounds of next season's revamped Europa Conference League, returning to European competition for the first time since 1987.
Team News
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Celtic attacker Yang Hyun-Jun will be assessed ahead of kickoff after he missed the midweek win over Kilmarnock with a foot injury, while James McCarthy remain out with a long-term hamstring issue.
Idah will be looking to add to the eight goals that he has scored for the Hoops since joining the club on loan in January and he could keep his place in attack ahead of joint-top scorer Furuhashi, who has netted 18 times along with midfielder O'Riley across all competitions.
Veteran goalkeeper Joe Hart is set to start his final league game before retiring from football, while the likes of Anthony Ralston, Stephen Welsh, Paulo Bernardo and Luis Palma will all be looking to force their way into the first XI after beginning as substitutes last time out.
As for St Mirren, they will be without the services of Hyeok-kyu Kwon and Jonah Ayunga, as they are nursing respective hamstring and knee injuries.
James Scott and James Bolton both scored in midweek and are expected to keep their places in the starting lineup, while Alex Gogic and Elvis Bwomono, who extended the contracts earlier this month, will also be pushing to start.
Celtic possible starting lineup:
Hart; Johnston, Carter-Vickers, Scales, Taylor; McGregor, Hatate, O'Riley; Forrest, Idah, Maeda
St Mirren possible starting lineup:
Hemming; Bolton, Gogic, Fraser; Brown, O'Hara, Baccus, Tanser; McMenamin, Mandron, Scott
We say: Celtic 3-1 St Mirren
Although Celtic have already wrapped up the title, they are still expected to deliver a professional performance in front of a carnival atmosphere at Parkhead.
Goals are to be expected from the hosts, who will be regarded as firm favourites to come out on top, even if Rodgers opts to make a few changes to his lineup.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Oliver Thomas
