St Mirren face Celtic for the second time in 11 days, hoping to claim their fourth victory in five matches and consolidate their place in the top six of the Scottish Premiership.
Meanwhile, the Hoops are looking to secure their third successive league victory and their eighth away from home this campaign.
Match preview
© Reuters
Celtic held on for their first home win in 2021 as they secured a slender 2-1 victory against Motherwell last weekend.
Goals from Stephen Welsh and Odsonne Edouard were enough to claim all three points and consolidate second place, and even though rivals Rangers slipped up at Hamilton, Celtic remain a huge 21 points behind the table toppers with their crown as Scotland's finest soon to be taken away from them.
With just 12 league matches left to play this season, Neil Lennon will be hoping that his side can finish strongly in what has been a disappointing campaign, to not only keep him in his job but to also show everyone how competitive they could be next year.
The Hoops will be wary of the threat that faces them on Wednesday, as St Mirren beat them 2-1 on home soil just over a week ago.
Celtic had previously won 14 of their last 16 meetings with the Saints, drawing the other two, and will believe they can secure three points once again which could move them nine points clear of third-placed Hibernian.
© Reuters
St Mirren got back to winning ways and claimed their third league victory in four matches as they secured a 2-0 triumph at home to Kilmarnock last weekend.
Kyle McAllister's first goal of the season was followed up by a second-half strike from Jonathan Obika to give Jim Goodwin's men their ninth Scottish Premiership win of the campaign.
The Saints have now matched their 2018-19 season tally of 32 points with 13 games still left to play, as well as surpassing last season's total of 30 points, although the coronavirus pandemic cut short that campaign by eight matches.
St Mirren will take plenty of confidence into their clash with Celtic having beaten them at the end of January and know that another three points secured on Wednesday could move them closer to the top four than the relegation zone.
St Mirren Scottish Premiership form: DLWWLW
St Mirren form (all competitions): LLWWLW
Celtic Scottish Premiership form: DDWLWW
Team News
© Reuters
St Mirren strikers Collin Quaner (knee) and Kristian Dennis (Achilles tendon) both remain out with injuries, however goalkeeper Jak Alnwick is back from suspension and is expected to replace Dean Lyness in the starting lineup.
Manager Jim Goodwin may decide to name the same side that beat Kilmarnock last weekend, which would see him stick with a 3-4-2-1 formation.
Celtic pair Christopher Jullien (knee) and James Forrest (ankle) both remain out injured, although the latter could be back in training before the end of the month.
Centre-back Shane Duffy, who scored the last time the Hoops beat St Mirren in September, is hoping to break back into the starting lineup, although Neil Lennon is likely to stick with defensive duo Stephen Welsh and Kristoffer Ajer.
Striker Leigh Griffiths could be handed a start ahead of Albian Ajeti and partner top goalscorer Odsonne Edouard up front.
St Mirren possible starting lineup:
Lyness; Fraser, McCarthy, Shaughnessy; Tait, Doyle-Hayes, Erhahon, Durmus; McGrath, McAllister; Obika
Celtic possible starting lineup:
Bain; Kenny, Welsh, Ajer, Taylor; Brown; McGregor, Turnbull; Christie; Griffiths, Edouard
We say: St Mirren 2-2 Celtic
St Mirren are unlikely to have much possession on Wednesday night, but if they can be as clinical in front of goal as they were at Celtic Park then they have every chance of causing another upset.
Despite winning three of their last four games, Celtic's opponents in those victories have been three of the league's bottom four sides. The Hoops struggled just over a week ago against the Saints and may find it difficult once again to claim three points in Paisley.
Top betting tip
Oliver Thomas
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Celtic win with a probability of 71.14%. A draw had a probability of 17.7% and a win for St Mirren had a probability of 11.19%.
The most likely scoreline for a Celtic win was 0-2 with a probability of 12.32%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-1 (10.89%) and 1-2 (9.5%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (8.4%), while for a St Mirren win it was 1-0 (3.71%). The actual scoreline of 0-4 was predicted with a 5.3% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Celtic would win this match.
