St Mirren v Celtic: Bhoys to pull five points clear of Rangers

Scottish Football / Michael Lintorn / 19 January 2012 /

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Gary Hooper has netted a dozen SPL goals already this season

"Celtic are scoring with relative ease right now – the only one of their last six games in which they didn’t fire at least twice being the derby."

Celtic have a chance to pile pressure on their rivals by delivering in the first game of the weekend, and Michael Lintorn can't see them letting it go to waste...

St Mirren v Celtic, Saturday 12:30 BST, ESPN, Match odds: St Mirren [9.6], Celtic [1.41], The Draw [5.1]

Celtic's bid to rack up a twelfth successive SPL victory takes them to St Mirren Park, the ground where champions Rangers were beaten on Christmas Eve, creating the opening which allowed Neil Lennon's side to climb to the top of the table four days later.

St Mirren haven't had much to celebrate since though, their next three league fixtures providing just one point and some defensive disasters, with nine goals conceded against Dundee United, Kilmarnock and Hearts.

Their visitors are scoring with relative ease right now - the only one of their last six games in which they didn't fire at least twice being the derby - and buoyed by top scorer Gary Hooper's claim that he is happy in Glasgow amidst interest from Southampton, things are looking good for the leaders.

With that win over Rangers marking the Buddies' sole success in eight and their two meetings with Celtic this season finishing 2-0 and 5-0 in the latter's favour, another home triumph against an Old Firm club appears as unlikely as odds of [9.6] suggest.

Over/under 2.5 goals

Prior to that 5-0 thrashing at Celtic Park two months ago, St Mirren boasted one of the SPL's better defensive records and looked like serious contenders for a top-half finish. However, Danny Lennon's team have now gone nine league matches without a clean sheet.

Fortunately, their work down the other end has prevented that from being a complete nightmare - former Rangers forward Steven Thompson proving a key man recently - and they have found the net in their last seven league encounters.

That indicates that in addition to backing over 2.5 goals at surprisingly hefty odds of [1.89], it is well worth taking advantage of the [2.12] available on both sides scoring.

Best Bet: Both teams to score @ [2.12]
Other Recommended Bet: Over 2.5 goals @ [1.89]

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