Former Celtic striker Chris Sutton has urged caution for Ange Postecoglou’s side ahead of the champions’ visit to West Lothian to face Livingston tomorrow.
Celtic broke their hoodoo at the Toni Macaroni Arena in March with a comfortable 3-1 victory en route to last season’s title, but it was their first win at Livingston in 15 years, and their first since the Lions were promoted back to the Scottish Premiership.
David Martindale’s side took four points from Celtic last season, not only beating them on home turf but taking a credible point at Celtic Park, and Sutton was keen to reinforce the difficulty of tomorrow’s fixture.
Speaking on BT Sport’s Scottish Football Extra, he said: “I can’t stand the pitch at Livingston.
“They (Celtic) do play watchable football, knock the ball around nicely, go forward, get runners forward, get bodies in the box, but this is one where they’ve just got to win the game and move on, I think it’s a really difficult game.
“David Martindale’s done a brilliant job at Livingston, they’re super effective at what they do but if Celtic could come away with three points that would be absolutely enormous. These games always worry me, when going to Kilmarnock or Livi, I think they’re really difficult fixtures.”
A formidable but expected challenge awaits Celtic tomorrow
Although tomorrow’s game against Livingston is one that will have stuck out in the fixture list given the recent struggles against David Martindale’s side, the challenge facing Celtic is one that should provide very few surprises.
Livingston’s plastic pitch is infamous, even with a few of the artificial surfaces remaining in Scottish football, and a very useful point at Ibrox last time out showcased their defensive resilience when sat in a compact low block.
Given their aptitude at defending crosses from deep when fully set, Celtic would do well to not be caught in a cycle of taking the easy pass and simply piling the ball into the box, rather sticking to Postecoglou’s philosophy and attempt to play through Livingston with quick, focused attacks.
If they can claim three points tomorrow, it would be a huge result to maintain momentum going into the final three league games before the World Cup, and leave Celtic in good stead to defend their title going into the break.
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