High hopes for Celtic to secure title despite setback last weekend

Celtic charge towards the Scottish Premiership title suffered a minor setback on Sunday as they slipped to a surprise 1-0 defeat away to bottom club St Johnstone.

Defender Daniels Balodis scored the only goal of the game after four minutes.

This saw the visitors dominate the remainder of the match and were denied by Simo Valakari’s side, whose keeper Andy Fisher made some vital saves.

The defeat angered Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers, who warned his players that he would address slow starts in the summer while stressing that there was still work to be done this season.

Celtic are still 13 points ahead of Rangers and remain on course for a fourth successive title, but their hopes of being confirmed champions on home soil this weekend have been put on hold.

Rangers’ 2-0 defeat by Hibs at Ibrox meant that if Celtic had beaten St Johnstone, they would have been able to clinch the league trophy with a victory over Kilmarnock at Parkhead this Saturday in their final league match before the split.

That is no longer the case, but Celtic could still become champions for the 13th time in 14 seasons this weekend if they beat Kilmarnock. However, they will have to wait 24 hours to find out.

For Celtic to clinch the title this weekend, the Hoops must take care of business in the 12.30 pm kick-off against Kilmarnock on Saturday, where a victory will move them 16 points clear at the top of the table.

Second-placed Rangers would then travel to Aberdeen on Sunday, knowing that only a victory over Jimmy Thelin’s side in the 12 noon kick-off would prevent Celtic from being crowned champions with five games to spare.

Should Rangers draw with the Dons, then Celtic won’t be mathematically confirmed as champions as they would be 15 points ahead with 15 points left to play for, but a vastly superior +78 goal difference compared to their rivals’ +33 figure would mean that the title would effectively be theirs.

The Hoops will hope they can pull this off in their next game as they look to secure yet another league title this campaign.