‘New’ kick-off time for Celtic vs. Kilmarnock – prediction, team news, lineups
Celtic host Kilmarnock in the Scottish Premiership this weekend as they edge closer to lifting a fourth consecutive league title.
The hosts would have had the opportunity to seal the title with a win in this match, but defeat away to St Johnstone last Sunday made that mathematically impossible.
Match preview
Despite the champagne temporarily being put back on ice, the Hoops can still end the weekend as champions, should their Glasgow rivals Rangers lose at Aberdeen on Sunday.
Victory this weekend would move the Bhoys 16 points clear of the Gers in the standings, as the league prepares to split in half before the final five games of the campaign.
Celtic’s defeat at McDiarmid Park was only their fourth loss of the season in the league, but perhaps more alarmingly for the hosts, it was their third defeat in their last six Scottish Premiership games.
Brendan Rodgers noted a trend of his side conceding early goals in all four of their league defeats this season, which is something that his side will need to improve on going forward.
Having already sealed the Scottish League Cup back in December, the Celts have their eyes on further silverware before the season concludes.
With the league title imminent, the hosts could make it a treble by the end of the season, as the Hoops are into the semi-finals of the Scottish Cup, where they will face the team that beat them last weekend, St Johnstone.
For now, the focus is on ensuring that there are no further slips, at least not until the league title is officially sealed.
The hosts will be strong favourites for three points this weekend, as they normally are at Celtic Park, where they have only dropped points in two matches all season.
Celtic entertain a Kilmarnock side that have picked up just nine points on the road all season, and this fixture sees the team with the best home record in the league take on the side with the worst away record.
Kilmarnock are still only a point clear of a potential relegation playoff at the end of the campaign, so they will need to pick up points in their remaining matches in order to survive in the Scottish Premiership beyond this season.
After finishing 10th in 2022-23 in their first season back in the division, Kilmarnock managed to secure a fourth-place finish in the 2023-24 campaign, even sealing a place in Europe.
The early-season qualifiers for both the Europa League and Conference League may well have taken a toll on the club, as they got off to a slow start in the league, only securing their first win of the season in their seventh game.
The visitors sealed a significant victory last weekend, as they won 2-0 against 10-man Motherwell, courtesy of goals from Fraser Murray and Joe Wright.
The win moved them up to ninth in the standings, but with both of the bottom two sides winning last weekend, the triumph was crucial; otherwise, they could have fallen into the relegation positions.
Kilmarnock have the fourth-leakiest defence in the league, having shipped 53 goals in 32 matches so far this season, and they face the strongest attack in the league this weekend, with Celtic scoring an incredible 92 goals so far in the league.
The odds are firmly stacked against Killie this weekend, and they will be glad to get this game out of the way before they shift their focus to maintaining their Scottish Premiership status once the league splits in two halves for the final five games of the season.
The hosts have already beaten Kilmarnock three times this season, as they began their title defence with a convincing 4-0 victory over Killie at Celtic Park back in August.
Callum McGregor and Nicolas Kuhn were on the scoresheet as the Hoops secured a 2-0 victory at Rugby Park in November to make it six points out of six for Celtic against Kilmarnock this season.
McGregor was on the scoresheet once again when the two sides were paired in the fourth round of the Scottish Cup in January, and the Hoops will be hoping for a fourth win of the campaign against the visitors to all but seal the league title.
Celtic Scottish Premiership form:
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Celtic form (all competitions):
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Kilmarnock Scottish Premiership form:
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Team News
The hosts will be without goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel for around five weeks after he picked up a shoulder injury on international duty with Denmark last month.
In his absence, Finnish keeper Viljami Sinisalo is expected to keep his place in goal, having started against both Hearts and St Johnstone in recent weeks.
Elsewhere, Liam Scales is back in training following a recent head injury, and he could be in contention to make the squad for this clash.
Meanwhile, Kilmarnock’s Kyle Magennis is expected to miss this match due to an ongoing knee problem, while Leicester City loanee Tom Wilson-Brown is a doubt due to a knock.
In better news for the visitors, Kyle Vassell is back in contention to make the squad following a lengthy injury.
Celtic possible starting lineup:
Sinisalo; Johnston, Trusty, Carter-Vickers, Schlupp; Engels, Hatate, McGregor; Kuhn, Maeda, Jota
Kilmarnock possible starting lineup:
O’Hara; Ndaba, Findlay, Wright, Mayo; Wales, Lyons, McKenzie, Armstrong; Murray, Anderson
We say: Celtic 3-0 Kilmarnock
Celtic are waiting to get their title party started, and they should do their part this weekend in a routine win against Kilmarnock.
The gap between the two sides has been clear in their previous meetings this season, and we expect another comfortable victory for the Hoops in this clash.
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