CELTIC will be looking to return to winning ways in the Scottish Premiership when they play host to Kilmarnock on Saturday afternoon.
The Hoops 12-game winning run in the top-flight came grinding to halt in a frantic 2-2 with Old Firm rivals Rangers last weekend.
However, in doing so, Ange Postecoglou's side have maintained their nine-point lead at the top of Scottish Premiership.
The reigning champions will now turn their attention to tightening their stranglehold at the summit, albeit for 24 hours, when Kilmarnock pitch up at Parkhead on Saturday.
Killie kicked-off the New Year with a drab 0-0 draw at home to St Mirren, with Derek McInnes’ men unable to take full advantage of Ethan Erhahon's early red card.
That stalemate means the Ayrshire outfit remain four points clear of rock-bottom Ross County and just one point ahead of Dundee United who currently occupy the relegation play-off spot.
Outright Betting
Celtic, who boast the only remaining 100% home record in the Scottish Premiership this season, are red-hot 1/12 (SBK) favourites.
Kilmarnock have crashed to defeat in each of their last five visits to Celtic Park and the bookies’ odds unsurprisingly suggest that they will come unstuck on Saturday, with the away win trading at a whopping 40/1 (William Hill) while a share of the spoils is unfancied 12/1 (Betfred).
Betting Angles
You won't get rich backing Celtic at the aforementioned odds, so it's therefore a case of having to get creative to eke out a decent price with a view to getting the league leaders onside.
With this in mind, I'll head to UniBet's Bet Builder market and merge Celtic to Win and Kilmarnock to receive the most cards at 17/20 (UniBet).
As already alluded to, Celtic have posted a perfect nine wins from nine at Parkhead in the Scottish Premiership this season, not to mention Ange Postecoglou has not tasted defeat on home turf in a league game since bagging the Bhoys job, having triumphed in a towering 24 of his 27 home games to date.
That doesn't bode well for a Kilmarnock side who are suffering from a sustained bout Scottish top-flight travel sickness, with Derek McInnes men the only side in the division yet to win away from home this season.
In fact, Killie have crashed to defeat in eight of their 10 league games away from Rugby Park this season, and they should suffer a similar fate here, however, to bump up the price, I'll also back the visitors to receive the most cards during this contest.
Kilmarnock, who demonstrated in August's reverse fixture (4 yellow cards) that they are not adverse to engaging in the dark arts, are receiving an average of 2.15 cards per-game this season, a tally that increases ever so slightly to 2.20 when operating outside of Ayrshire.
Given those figures, coupled with the fact that Celtic have drawn a minimum of two bookings from their opponents in 15 of their opening 20 league games of the season so far, I'm happy to conclude the Bet Builder with Kilmarnock to receive the most cards.
It's also worth noting that the above-mentioned combination has clicked in 12 of Celtic's 18 Scottish Premiership victories this season and that only adds to the appeal of supporting the same 17/20 (UniBet) play at Parkhead on Saturday.
This Scottish Premiership match between Celtic and Kilmarnock will be played on Jan 7, 2023 and kick off at 15:00. Check below for our tipsters best Celtic vs Kilmarnock prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
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