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St. Johnstone will host Celtic at the McDiarmid Park on Sunday in the semifinals of the 2024-25 Scottish Cup campaign. The home side have had their struggles in league action this season but have impressed in the domestic cup and will be looking to keep that run going this weekend.
They were drawn against Livingston in the previous round of the Scottish Cup and picked up a narrow 1-0 win, with veteran midfielder Graham Carey coming off the bench to score the sole goal of the game.
Celtic, meanwhile, are going full steam ahead in pursuit of a 55th Premiership title but will break from that this weekend as they turn their attention to cup action. They beat Hibernian 2-0 in the quarterfinals of the cup last month, with Daizen Maeda opening the scoring for the Celts in the first half before Adam Idah doubled their advantage in the second.
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The visitors, who are the current holders of the Scottish Cup, beat Aberdeen on penalties at this stage of the competition last season and will be targeting victory here to press on with their domestic treble charge.
St. Johnstone vs Celtic Head-to-Head and Key Numbers
- Sunday's game will mark the 165th meeting between the two teams. St. Johnstone have won just 25 of their previous matchups while Celtic have won 113 times, with their other 26 contests ending level.
- The hosts picked up a shock 1-0 win when the two teams faced off in the league a fortnight ago, ending a 31-game winless run in this fixture.
- The Celts are record winners of the Scottish Cup, having lifted the domestic title 42 times including the last two seasons. St. Johnstone, meanwhile, have won the competition twice most recently in the 2020-21 season when they beat Hibernian 1-0 in the final.
- The weekend clash will see the Saints, who have scored the joint-fewest goals in the Premiership this season (33), take on Celtic, who have scored the most (97).
St. Johnstone vs Celtic Prediction
St. Johnstone are considerable underdogs heading into the weekend clash but came away with a smash-and-grab win when the two sides faced off earlier in the month and will be confident of repeating the same here.
Celtic are by far the better side ahead of the cup semifinal and only need to avoid complacency and sloppiness to win this one.
Prediction: St. Johnstone 0-3 Celtic
St. Johnstone vs Celtic Betting Tips
Tip 1 - Result: Celtic to win
Tip 2 - Goals - Over/under 2.5 - Over 2.5 goals (Eight of the last 10 matches between the two teams have produced more than 2.5 goals)
Tip 3 - Both teams to score: NO (Both sides have found the back of the net in just two of their last six matchups)
