FRESH from winning the Premier Sports Cup, Celtic return to Scottish Premiership duty with an away match against St Mirren on Wednesday night.
Ange Postecoglou's side will arrive in Renfrewshire riding the crest of a wave after scooping the first piece of silverware of the season on Sunday with a 2-1 Hampden win over Hibernian.
That League Cup triumph means Celtic have now racked up an impressive 15 wins and a draw across their last 17 matches in all competitions.
However, the Hoops must ensure they do not rest on their laurels this midweek, as Postecoglou and Co will be presented with the opportunity to reduce the seven-point gap between themselves and fierce rivals Rangers at the summit of the top flight.
St Mirren, meanwhile, will be looking to put the brakes on their nosedive down the Scottish Premiership table, with Jim Goodwin's side in the midst of a nine-game winless run.
The Saints' prospects of snapping that sequence certainly appear to be slim ahead of Wednesday's battle with the Bhoys, following a number of suspected positive tests in the Paisley camp.
Outright Betting
St Mirren have posted just one win in nine Scottish Premiership home matches this season and the bookies odds suggest that trend will continue with the Buddies big outsiders at 16/1 (William Hill) while the draw is also deemed unlikely at 6/1 (Betfair).
Celtic make the short trip to St Mirren Park as red-hot 3/10 (Bet 365) favourites as they aim to make it seven Scottish Premiership wins on the spin.
Betting Angles
It's difficult to envisage anything other than a routine Celtic win here, so looking away from the traditional markets may be the best way to squeeze some value out of this fixture.
I'll therefore delve into the Bet Builder feature and combine Celtic to win and Celtic to hit over five corners during this contest at 4/5 (Bet 365).
As already alluded to, the Glasgow guests are enjoying a fine run of form at the moment and come into this clash off the back of a cup final victory.
What's more, with this acting as Celtic's game in hand, Postecoglou's men will be aware that they have no room for error if they are to remain in a strong position in their pursuit of the league title.
With that in mind, coupled with the widely-available reports of St Mirren being decimated numbers-wise, I'm more than happy to back the Bhoys to bank all three points on Wednesday night.
To round off the Bet Builder and to boost the odds to 4/5 (Bet 365) I'll also back the high-octane Hoops to hit over five corners at St Mirren Park.
Postecoglou’s gung-ho brand of football has seen Celtic average a whopping 9.28 corners per-game in the Scottish Premiership this season, with the Parkhead outfit covering the 6+ line in each of their last 14 top flight fixtures.
It's also worth noting that the aforementioned combination has clicked in all 13 of Celtic's league victories this season so far and that only adds to the appeal of supporting the same formula at St Mirren Park this midweek.
This Scottish Premiership match between St Mirren and Celtic will be played on Dec 22, 2021 and kick off at 19:45. Check below for our tipsters best St Mirren vs Celtic prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.