Preview: Celtic vs. Livingston - prediction, team news, lineups

They face Livingston who are at the opposite end of the table, currently sat bottom of the division after winning just two matches this season.

Match preview

Celtic's dominant grip of the Scottish Premiership has been rocked in recent weeks due to consecutive defeats at the hands of Kilmarnock and Hearts which have allowed the chasing pack to catch them up.

The Hoops now only sit two points above Rangers in the table, and considering that the Gers have a game in hand there is now a lot of pressure on them to turn things around.

Celtic were blown away by Hearts last weekend with first-half goals from Lawrence Shankland and Stephen Kingsley leading to a 2-0 loss.

It was a rare game where the Hoops failed to score, which is something that fans have not come to expect from the team with the best-attacking record in the league at this point.

Brendan Rodgers will be demanding an instant response from his team, and their previous result against Livingston should bring some confidence to the team as they secured a 3-0 win during the last meeting.

That is a game the Lions will want to forget considering the fact Celtic played the bulk of the fixture with 10 men after Joe Hart was sent off in the 28th minute of that one.

However, it has been a tough campaign overall for Livingston as they have only won two games throughout the league campaign which has left them sat at the foot of the table.

David Martindale's men pushed Aberdeen in midweek with Kurtis Guthrie originally giving them the lead, but they were unable to hang on as Bojan Miovski scored a brace to win the game.

Livingston are now six points adrift of safety, and that is something that places a lot of pressure on the team to start turning around their performances.

The Lions have conceded 16 times away from home this season which is a situation that they will need to change moving forward should they wish to start securing more points on the road.

Celtic Scottish Premiership form:

W

D

W

W

L

L

Celtic form (all competitions):

L

W

W

L

W

L

Livingston Scottish Premiership form:

L

L

L

L

D

L

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Team News

Celtic have a trio of injuries to deal with heading into this game as Reo Hatate, Liel Abada and Daizen Maeda are all currently on the sidelines.

The Hoops are likely to lead the line with Kyogo Furuhashi at the point of the attack, working a 4-3-3 formation to build toward him.

Sean Kelly was on the sidelines in midweek after coming off with an injury in Livingston's previous outing, and he is expected to be unavailable once more.

Guthrie should retain his place in the attack though after finding the back of the net in midweek, with the Lions likely to focus on three at the back.

Celtic possible starting lineup:

Hart; A Johnston, Welsh, Scales, Taylor; O'Riley, Iwata, McGregor; M Johnston, Furuhashi, Palma

Livingston possible starting lineup:

George; Nottingham, Obileye, Devlin; Nouble, Holt, Shinnie, Penrice; Pittman; Anderson, Guthrie

We say: Celtic 3-0 Livingston

Despite poor results recently, Celtic will see facing Livingston as the ideal fixture to get back on track in their attempt to remain top of the Scottish Premiership.

The attacking qualities of the Hoops should be too much for the Lions, who will still look to put out a stern test.

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