Celtic travel to the SMiSA Stadium on 5 September for Gameweek 6 of the 2026-27 Scottish Premiership with an unblemished four from four record, while St Mirren sit second after collecting ten points from their opening four fixtures. The gap between them is just three points, which makes this more than a routine visit from the champions. Celtic arrive having thrashed Aberdeen 3-0 on 2 September, St Mirren edged Kilmarnock 1-0 the same evening. Win here and Celtic make it 11 consecutive league victories. Win here for St Mirren and the early season title talk becomes a lot less hypothetical.
Martin O'Neill has faced St Mirren seven times in league competition since taking the Celtic job on 11 June 2026, winning all seven while scoring 16 goals and conceding just two. Craig McLeish, who replaced Stephen Robinson in June, hasn't faced Celtic yet, which means O'Neill arrives knowing exactly what it takes to win here whereas McLeish is effectively working blind.
St Mirren's sequence reads win, draw, win, win, good enough for ten points and a goal difference of plus four, whereas Celtic have been cleaner still, winning all four league games without conceding.
McLeish is without four players: Donnelly and Dijksteel both expected back in late September, Baccus around the same time and Ayunga not until January. Losing Donnelly and Baccus in particular strips St Mirren of three of their regular starters in midfield and defence at exactly the wrong moment. O'Neill isn't unscathed either, with Callum Osmand, Kieran Tierney, Kasper Hogh, Alistair Johnston and Jota all unavailable. The full back positions will be filled by whoever steps in and those players will be doing so against the league leaders with minimal preparation time.
Both sides are expected to line up in a 4-2-3-1 but that's where the similarity ends. McLeish has built St Mirren around pressing and quick transitions, with Nikolas Agrafiotis leading the line and Fraser Taylor and Chris Mochrie supporting from midfield and the game plan against Celtic will almost certainly involve disrupting their build up before it reaches Callum McGregor. Celtic under O'Neill are possession oriented and patient, with Camilo Duran their sharpest attacker this season and Benjamin Nygren adding creativity in the number ten role. The absence of Tierney and Johnston leaves the left channel slightly more exposed than usual and St Mirren's pressing system is designed to punish exactly that kind of hesitation. Whether Agrafiotis can isolate himself against what may be an unfamiliar Celtic back line is the most interesting question of the afternoon.
McLeish's side will probably be the more energetic for the first half hour but sustaining that without Donnelly, Baccus and Dijksteel over 90 minutes is a different proposition and those three absences mean St Mirren's press is likely to fade before Celtic's does. That structural advantage is reinforced by the history between these sides: across 40 previous meetings Celtic have won 32, with St Mirren winning three and five drawn, 105 goals scored to St Mirren's 24 and 11 consecutive league wins for Celtic in the fixture.
Set pieces could matter more than usual given the injury lists on both sides. St Mirren will miss the aerial presence of Donnelly and Ayunga at both ends, while Celtic, without Tierney and Johnston, may be slightly less organised defending deliveries into the box. The 72 hour turnaround from midweek favours the side with greater squad depth, which is Celtic.
Celtic to win 2-0, though St Mirren's press will cause problems early and from set pieces they may threaten a reshuffled Celtic back line. Four significant absences are going to catch up with them in the second half. Duran in particular has shown he can hurt teams the moment space opens up behind the defensive line and with St Mirren's midfield shield depleted, that space will come. The injury list makes this the worst possible week to host Celtic.
Ryan Baldi
Football Writer
Ryan Baldi is a professional football writer with years of experience and has been featured by respected outlets such as the BBC, The Guardian, Sky Sports, DAZN, FourFourTwo, ESPN, Yahoo Sport and Football365. He has also written several books including Arsène Who?.
