Probabilities for the match are Celtic 78%, St Johnstone 6% and 16% for the draw.
St Johnstone play 3 at the back which will more likely be 5 at the back against Celtic.
In their last game (away to Kilmarnock) Brown (2) played left back then right sided centre back so the average position map is a bit distorted. Therefore below I’ve shown the average position map for their game away to Dundee Utd.
The lined up with the following;
· Matthews (1)
· Mitchell (5), Gordon (6) and Considine (4)
· Wright (14), Hallberg (22), McGowan (13), Crawford (21) and Montgomery (19)
· May (7) and Clark (37)
with their three central midfielders and two forwards very narrow.
In goals is Remi Matthews (1) who is on loan from Crystal Palace. His save % is 59.4% for the season (9th) and he has conceded 4.1 more goals than expected (11th).
Right centre back is Alexander Mitchell (5) who is on loan from Millwall.
Liam Gordon (6) is the middle centre back.
At left centre back is Andrew Considine (4) who signed from Aberdeen after 488 appearances for them. He has their most accurate passes per 90 at 29.6.
Right wing back Drey Wright (14) was signed from Hibs in the summer.
Swedish midfielder Melker Hallberg (22) signed from Hibs in January and has been playing on the right hand side of the central midfield three.
Ex Hearts, Dundee Utd and Dundee centre back Ryan McGowan (13) has been playing central midfielder for St Johnstone this season after signing from Kuwait SC.
Ali Crawford (21) has played left midfield of the central midfield three since replacing Jamie Murphy (29) recently. Murphy another signing from Hibs in the summer. Crawford has the most xA per 90 for St Johnstone this season on 0.23.
Adam Montgomery (19) has been playing left wing back for St Johnstone however he is ineligible for this game as he is on loan from Celtic so James Brown (2) will come in for him.
Stevie May (7) and Nicky Clark (37) who was signed from Dundee Utd in the summer make up the front two. May has 0.16 xG per 90 and Clark has 0.29.
Their league matches for this season are listed below;
St Johnstone have lost 5 matches and they have only one game where they have had a positive xGD of more than 0.5 goals. This was against St Mirren where they had a 1.46 Non Penalty xG and a 0.183 NP xG per shot. They also had a Post Shot xG of 2.06.
Below is their xPts 6 game rolling average graph for last season and this season so far. They are trending upwards but had a dip at the start of this season. The St Mirren game (mentioned above) has put them back on the incline.
My prediction is a 3-0 win for Celtic.
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Tony@CelticTrends.com