St Mirren return to action on Sunday aiming to get back to winning ways on the back of three straight defeats in all competitions after making a pleasing start to the campaign.
Indeed, the Saints began the 2024-25 term by progressing past Valur Reykjavik in Europa Conference League qualifying and thrashed Hibernian 3-0 in their Scottish Premiership curtain-raiser thanks to Roland Idowu‘s opener and Oisin Smyth‘s brace, but after playing out a 1-1 draw in the home leg of their continental third-qualifying-round tie against SK Brann, they have hit a tougher spell in recent weeks.
Stephen Robinson‘s side visited Aberdeen in their second league outing and succumbed to a 3-1 defeat at Pittodrie, having initially drawn level in the first half through Toyosi Olusanya, before visiting Brann for the second leg and dropping out of qualifying following a 3-1 defeat on the night in Norway, with their hosts only retaking a lead five minutes from time.
Aiming to put that disappointment behind them, the Paisley outfit most recently visited Dundee United for a Scottish League Cup second-round tie on Sunday and saw their losing run extended, dropping out of the competition following a 1-0 defeat at Tannadice Park as Ross Graham netted the only goal in the first half.
With their focus now fully on their Scottish Premiership pursuits following those cup exits, St Mirren will now bid to add to their tally of three points at the weekend with a positive result on home turf.
That will certainly be no easy task, though, as the defending champions arrive aiming to make it three victories from three outings in the league and four consecutive wins across all competitions this term.
In their second season under the tutelage of returning boss Brendan Rodgers, Celtic set out to win a fourth consecutive Scottish Premiership title, a 13th in a 14-year spell and the 55th in their history, having most recently topped the table on 93 points last time around, eight clear of rivals Rangers.
The Glasgow giants have kicked off in characteristically emphatic fashion, too, winning their first two top-flight outings without conceding a goal, having firstly thrashed Kilmarnock 4-0 in their curtain-raiser with Reo Hatate, Liam Scales, Nicolas Kuhn and Anthony Ralston all on the scoresheet before Kuhn and Callum McGregor fired them to a 2-0 triumph away at Hibernian.
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Another meeting with Hibernian followed in the Scottish League Cup on Sunday, and the Bhoys progressed with another victory over the Edinburgh outfit, eventually winning 3-1 as Daizen Maeda fired them into an early 2-0 lead and Kuhn stretched their advantage back to two before the hour mark.
Having quickly kicked into gear once again this season, Celtic will now bid to extend a perfect start to their title defence with another dominant victory on Sunday.
