ST JOHNSTONE V CELTIC BET BUILDER TIPS
St Johnstone to win +3 goals
David Turnbull to score anytime
Over 3.5 bookings
Over 10.5 corners
Luke Robinson to be shown a card
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The latest football odds are on PaddyPower.com nowScottish Premiership Match: St Johnstone vs Celtic
KO: 12:00, McDiarmid Park
TV: Sky Sports Football
St Johnstone to win +3 goals
With 11 wins in their previous 14 Scottish Premiership matches, Celtic start as strong favourites to bring three points back from St Johnstone, who they meet at McDiarmid Park for a lunchtime kick-off on Sunday. Brendan Rodgers’ side should be backed to bring the three points home from Perth.
Backing a large away win, though, has pitfalls. The Hoops are coming off the back of an exhausting midweek trip to Rome, where they unfortunately lost 2-0 to Lazio, while their attacking play in a 1-1 draw with Motherwell last weekend was less than convincing. Furthermore, a scoreless draw earlier this season against the Perth Saints shows the home side have the capability to be competitive.
On top of this, Celtic are struggling for numbers in attack. Liel Abada, Daizen Maeda and Reo Hatate are all sidelined once more for the Parkhead club, who will, however, recover Luis Palma after a midweek ban. St Johnstone will setup to frustrate the visitors, and based on recent evidence, they are capable of keeping this as a competitive encounter. The Perth side have lost only twice at home this season, and not by more than two goals in the league.
David Turnbull to score anytime
Rodgers is likely to shuffle his squad for this game to bring in some more energy after the midweek loss, and one strong option in this regard looks to be central midfielder David Turnbull. Having hit the headlines this week following the revelation that AC Milan are reportedly tracking him, the 24-year-old will be seeking to continue what has been an impressive run of goal scoring form.
He has netted seven goals in 11 Premiership appearances this season and has scored in each of his last four outings. Moreover, he is likely to be on penalties when he is on the field, with Luis Palma having missed last weekend. Turnbull is only one goal behind Celtic top scorer Kyogo Furuhashi this season, despite having played roughly only a third of the minutes. Expect him to be given more of a chance to shine here.
Palma represents a strong alternative in this same market given he was not involved in midweek at all. Both players are typically only given around an hour of action when they start, but they have shown themselves capable of making a big impact in that time.
Over 3.5 bookings
Having been shown 33 cards in their 13 Premiership matches to date (31 yellows and two reds), St Johnstone lie third in the league’s bad-boy list. On Sunday, they are bound to be forced into some desperate defensive work against the division’s outstanding team, likely giving away a higher foul count than they are used to.
Equally, Celtic are averaging more than one booking per game and with heavy legs after their midweek exploits, it would not be entirely surprising to see them drawn into a tired challenge or two that could increase their chances of seeing referee Don Robertson’s cards. Robertson, meanwhile, has shown at least four cards in three of his last four Premiership matches, including red cards in two of the last season.
Over 10.5 corners
Celtic’s matches are producing a higher corner count than any other team in the Premiership this season, with exactly 12 per game. This is largely because they win so many of these situations themselves, with 8.86 coming in each match they play on average. St Johnstone, meanwhile, concede more corners than any other team in the division, with that figure flirting with 7 per game.
This combination should mean that there is a high overall corner count, and with both these teams hitting more than 10.5 corners in above 50% of their fixtures, the odds are healthy to back that outcome again.
Luke Robinson to be shown a card
The odds on St Johnstone wing-back Luke Robinson to be shown a card look very interesting indeed, with the 22-year-old Wigan loanee having been shown four cautions in 990 minutes of action for Saints this season. Only Daniel Phillips has seen more cards for the Perth club. Robinson is likely to come under pressure in this match from Celtic, who are likely to try to use the width of the field to open up their opponents. Forced into more defensive work than he is used to, and potentially targeted as a player who could be outnumbered, he will do well to avoid a caution.
ST JOHNSTONE V CELTIC BET BUILDER TIPS
St Johnstone to win +3 goals
David Turnbull to score anytime
Over 3.5 bookings
Over 10.5 corners
Luke Robinson to be shown a card
All prices are bang up to date with our snazzy widgets, while odds in copy are accurate at time of publishing but subject to change.
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