Scottish League
2011-08-21 - Celtic vs St Johnstone
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football : Scottish Premier League
Sunday 21 August 2011 - Kickoff 3pm
Celtic
Neil Lennon would have been a little disappointed to see his Celtic side fail to break down Sion in the Europa League, but he will want them to continue laying down the marker in the Scottish Premier League and maintain their 100% record.
Celtic had many chances in their game with Sion on Thursday night, with Georgious Samaras being guilty of missing a host of them. It got so bad for the Greek striker in his first appearance of the season that the biggest roar at Celtic Park accompanied his substitution.
The Bhoys have won all 3 Scottish League games they have played this season and sit in 2nd place to Motherwell who have played one game more and face Rangers earlier in the day. Only 1 of the 3 games they have played has been at Celtic Park- Celtic beat Dundee United 5-1 last Saturday.
Scott Brown is a doubt after struggling with an ankle injury in the game with Sion. Kelvin Wilson is likely to join Glenn Loovens, Gary Hooper and Beram Kayal in the treatment room and that means Samaras is likely to get a chance to redeem himself in front of his own supporters.
St Johnstone
The biggest problem for St Johnstone last season was a lack of goals scored, and it seems some things don't change as they have failed to score in their opening 3 games of this season. Derek McInnes told the media he was sure his side was about to turn a corner on that front and that it was only a matter of time before the net is bulging again.
The defence has kept St Johnstone in a lot of matches and they remain difficult to score against with only 3 goals conceded this season. The team are sitting in 11th position in the Premier League and have earned just 1 point from their opening games and are only clear of the bottom spot thanks to a superior goal difference compared with Inverness CT.
St Johnstone secured a 0-0 draw in their only away game of the season so far at Aberdeen, but they have lost back to back matches at home to Rangers and Dunfermline.
Callum Davidson and Carl Finnigan have both recovered from knocks and could take part in this game. Kevin Moon and Chris Millar are both injured and miss out.
Head to Head
Celtic won all 3 League games against St Johnstone and also won a League Cup game against them last season to extend their run to 15 straight wins.
Celtic have won the last 10 times they have met one another at Celtic Park, including a 2-0 win last season.
8 of the last 10 wins they have at home against St Johnstone have come by 3 goals or more.
Prediction
You can't look beyond a Celtic win and the prices are set accordingly, although I was surprised the Asian Handicap was not set at a level higher than the 1.75 it is at.
That would be a winner as long as Celtic win by at least 2 goals, something they have done in 9 of their last 10 home games against St Johnstone, and will be a full payout winner with a 3 goal win, which Celtic have secured in 8 of 10 home games against this opposition.
The Bhoys created a huge number of chances against Sion on Thursday and I think St Johnstone will pay for the home sides lack of killer instinct on that occasion.
While the defence has been strong for St Johnstone in the last season, Celtic have scored 2 or more goals in 14 of their last 15 games against them and the lack of goals for St Johnstone could ensure this handicap is covered.
The Pick :
Celtic 3-0 St Johnstone
