Celtic are in a good flow, working really hard in training and taking that into games and we look forward to Sunday. The Hoops progressed to the quarter-final of the League Cup after defeating Hibernian 3-1 at Celtic Park last weekend. That match saw Daizen Maeda playing as a lone striker with the forward grabbing two first half goals to give the Celts a solid grip on the game and, speaking to the media, Brendan Rodgers was full of praise for his player.
'We always respect the opponent that we're playing. We'll be ready for the weekend.'
Matt O’Riley will soon be a Brighton player and as the old saying goes ‘life must go on’ and so it does as we have a crucial game with St Mirren at Paisley tomorrow afternoon.
With no Matt in the starting line up it’s extremely likely that Paulo Bernardo will get the nod as his replacement.
Paulo of course signed for the club permanently after a decent loan spell last season, so he’s hardly an unknown quantity. The former Benfica man and Portuguese under 21 captain is a talented player and has the potential to become even better. He’s maybe not at the same level as Matt, but he can get there especially under the guidance of a quality manager in Brendan Rodgers.
Paulo showed in glimpses last season what he is capable of, but was maybe a little inconsistent in his performances.
That was understandable considering he was just new to the club and our football, while playing alongside the likes of Reo, Callum and Matt meant he was perhaps a bit overshadowed.
This season there is no excuses whatsoever, and Paulo will have to hit the ground running, starting tomorrow at Paisley. Paulo is a good player and I’ve every confidence he can do just that.
The Celts have had an excellent start to season 2024/25, with three good performances which have brought three impressive victories.Next up for the Bhoys is a trip to Paisley this weekend where they will face a St Mirren side who have had a mixed bunch of results, both domestically and in Europe where they failed to progress to the Europa Conference League group stages. Despite some early disappointment for Stephen Robinson's side this season, Celts boss Brendan Rodgers says that his side will go in to this weekend's match expecting a difficult challenge. Speaking to the press ahead of Sunday's match, Brendan said: "St Mirren is always a tough game. We managed the games against them well last season I felt."Stephen is an excellent manager. I really like him. "He's very honest to the game, he works tirelessly and for St Mirren to have been in Europe is a real testament to the work they've done there.
The Saints' situation isn't easy at the moment, with three consecutive defeats, one of which cost them their place in the Scottish League Cup. They made a losing start in the UEFA Conference League and were beaten in the second round of the Scottish Championship.
St. Mirren's start to the season was promising, they went unbeaten in eight matches, including four early-season friendlies, four games, two wins and two draws. In the UEFA Conference League, they opened the competition with a 4-1 win over Valur, followed by a 0-0 draw. The Scottish Premiership opener was a 3-0 win over Hibernian. The last game of this unbeaten run was a 1-1 draw in the Conference League against Brann.
But since Sunday (11), things have been difficult, the wins have disappeared and there have only been defeats. The first of the three was to Aberdeen in the Scottish Championship, the second was to Brann in the UEFA Conference League and the latest defeat, to Dundee United, cost them their place in the Scottish League Cup.
Now the Saints are looking to get back to winning ways and rebalance their season. Celtic will be in the way, and it won't be easy to break down the Celts side, one of the giants of Scottish soccer.
To repeat last season's fifth-place finish, they'll need to improve their performance. Even though it's early days and there are 30 more league games to go, after this match against Celtic, it's clear that they need to improve their performance. Get out of this spiral of three defeats in a row to regain balance and confidence.
The conclusion of the third round of the Scottish Premier League will take place on Sunday (25) and the opening match of the day will be between St. Mirren and Celtic. The two teams are going through different phases, with the Saints coming off the back of three defeats in three different competitions, one of which cost them elimination from the Scottish League Cup. Celtic are on a three-game winning streak, one of which saw them qualify for the Scottish League Cup, the other two victories coming in the Scottish Championship.
Let's see how the teams get on in this clash.
Hi fans! The third round of the Scottish Championship continues on Sunday (25) and St. Mirren face Celtic at New St. Mirren Park at 7 PM ET. We're going on this journey together and here at VAVEL you'll be following the details of the match, news, line-ups and minute-by-minute moves.
