ONE early-season slip-up away from home was bad enough for Celtic.
Two on the bounce would start to cause ripples of panic among a support fixated on the quest for 10 titles in a row.
After turning in a dismal performance in Sunday's 1-1 draw at Kilmarnock – where Celtic's XG of 0.3 was their lowest in four seasons – Neil Lennon's men need an instant response in their third outing of the new Premiership campaign.
They face a St Mirren side who followed up their opening-day 1-0 win over Livingston with a 3-0 defeat away to Rangers on Sunday.
That was very much a damage limitation job for Jim Goodwin's men, who showed decent battling qualities against a barrage of pressure to prevent a heavier defeat.
Now they are back on their Paisley turf hoping to make life uncomfortable for the champions. Despite being at home, this will be no expansive, attacking performance from the Saints though.
They'll look to keep things tight as a drum at the back, frustrate Celtic and hope to nick something on the counter. Striker Jon Obika may well fancy his chances of ruffling the feathers of Celtic centre-back Christopher Jullien, who struggles with physical frontmen and was all over the place at Rugby Park.
Saints last beat Celtic at home 10 years ago, but since their return to the top flight in 2018, their three meetings have ended in a 0-0 draw and 2-0 and 2-1 defeats for the Paisley men.
How do the bookies view it?
Celtic are expected to bounce back quickly, with Betfred offering the best price of 2-9 for an away win, with the draw a 6-1 shot at Betfair and a shock Saints success paying a chunky 14-1 at the same firm.
Betting angles
After their insipid Rugby Park showing, expect Celtic to approach this game with a tempo that was sorely lacking on Sunday. That's not to say they will blow the hosts away, though.
St Mirren are notoriously low scorers and only one of the teams' last eight meetings in Paisley has featured over 3.5 goals, making a Celtic victory and under that mark an attractive bet at 6-5 with Skybet.
Goodwin's team can put up stuffy resistance but Celtic's superior quality ought to tell in the end, so consider the second half to feature most goals at 20-21 with bet365.
Please not this game has been postponed.
This Scottish Premiership match between St Mirren and Celtic will be played on Aug 12, 2020 and kick off at 18:00. 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.