Celtic have won 14 of their last 16 meetings with St Johnstone, most-recently demolishing the Saints 5-0 at Hampden in a Scottish Cup semi-final. However, the Hoops were beaten 1-0 the last time they visited McDiarmid Park. Will Martin O'Neill's team avoid a repeat in Perth on Wednesday night?
St Johnstone vs Celtic match info
- Date: Wednesday 9 August 2026.
- Kick off times: 8pm (local) & 3pm (ET)
- Competition: Scottish Premiership
- Venue: McDiarmid Park - Perth
- How to watch: Sky Sports (UK) and Paramount+ (USA).
How can I watch St Johnstone vs Celtic?
In the UK and Ireland, fans can watch this Scottish Premiership fixture on Sky Sports Football. It can also be found on Paramount+ in the United States.
Other global broadcasters include beIN Sports 1 in Australia, Sportdigital FUSSBALL 2 in Austria and Germany, Cosmote Sport 9 HD in Greece and Sport TV3 in Portugal.
St Johnstone vs Celtic match preview
Can Celtic continue their perfect start to this Scottish Premiership season? So far, the Hoops have won five out of five in the league, albeit they were made to work hard to maintain that fact. On Saturday night, the top two went-head-to-head in Paisley.
It was St Mirren who struck first, Nikolas Agrafiotis emphatically converting a spot-kick, but Martin O'Neill's team fought back to prevail 2-1. Liam Scales headed home an equaliser shortly after the interval, before Yang Hyun-jun burst in behind and cooly slotted home the winner.
This leaves the Celts three points clear of second-place Heart of Midlothian at the top of the table, ahead of a crucial week coming up. On Sunday, the Hoops will take on Rangers at Ibrox in the League Cup quarter-finals. The two Glasgow rivals will then go head-to-head again at Parkhead in the Premiership the following Sunday, with O'Neill's team also commencing their Europa League campaign against Ferencváros in-between. Before any of that, will they avoid slipping up in Perth?
St Johnstone meantime are the champions of the Championship, determined not to be involved in a relegation scrap this time round. Well, Simo Valakari's side look like they are here to stay. On Sunday, the Saints upset the odds by beating Hibernian 2-1 at home, courtesy of Josh Fowler's double.
This takes their points tally up to seven, enjoying a memorable 4-3 victory over Kilmarnock on the opening weekend, in their only other home match to date. Thus, St Johnstone might not be push overs at McDiarmid Park, albeit Celtic should still be too strong.
St Johnstone team news
Josh Fowler's double to down Hibs will see him once again lead the line, with Jason Holt donning the armband. Goalkeeper Toby Steward, who is 21 years old and on loan from Portsmouth, should be prepared for a busy night's work.
Striker Ruari Paton could once again be left on the bench, with Simo Valakari drafting in an extra midfield, namely Sam Stanton, but Jamie Gullan is a doubt.
Celtic team news
Martin O'Neill remains without Alistair Johnston, Kieran Tierney and Kasper Høgh due to injury. Meantime, Yang Hyun-jun will not be available either, having travelled to Japan for the Asian Games. Considering he's scored twice already this season, the winger will be a loss.
In his place, Sebastian Tounekti is likely to come in, with Haissem Hassan on the opposite flank. New signings Oliver Sørensen and Shumaira Mheuka both came off the bench on Saturday night, with Jordan Lotomba and Joël van den Berg hoping for their own debuts this time.
Predicted Line-ups
- St Johnstone predicted lineup: Steward; Smith, Mitchell, Diabaté, Alic; Holt, Stanton, McAlear; Steven, Fotheringham, Fowler.
- Celtic predicted lineup: Sinisalo; Donovan, Carter-Vickers, Trusty, Scales: McGregor, Baur, Nygren; Hassan, Tounekti, Durán.
- Score prediction: St Johnstone 0-3 Celtic.
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