Livingston boss David Martindale has claimed that Ange Postecoglou’s Celtic side are the team to beat this season in the Scottish Premiership.
The Bhoys travel to take on the Lions this Sunday at the Tony Macaroni Stadium, looking to continue their strong start to the campaign.
Livi themselves have also made a decent start, currently sitting in the top six, on 16 points after 11 games played.
The two sides are yet to go face-to-face in the early stages of the 2022/23 campaign following the postponement of the first clash last month.
Going into this weekend’s game, David Martindale’s side will be full of confidence after coming within minutes of taking home all three points at Ibrox last Saturday.
However, Martindale is well-aware of the difficult task that lies ahead for this squad when Celtic travel to town.
The 48-year-old has been full of praise for Ange Postecoglou and his players as he assessed the up-and-coming fixture this weekend and stated that the Hoops are the team to beat in the Scottish Premiership.
He said [Sky Sports]: “Two totally different games. I think Celtic are the team to beat. I think Ange has done a fantastic job. They’re flying. Very, very difficult to break down and very, very difficult to stop.
“But we’ll go into the game with our own game plan. Probably two banks of five, I’m only kidding. We’ll go in and try and impose our game plan on Celtic, but I think they’re the team to beat this season.
“I think they’re fantastic. They’ve made massive progress from the minute Ange walked into that building to where they are now, he’s transformed them. They’re a top, top team.
“I think they’ve been really, really unlucky in the Champions League games, so that shows you the calibre of where Celtic are as a club.”
Whilst it should prove to be a tough game, Martindale is keen to see his team impose themselves on the game, adding that they will go more aggressive at home in comparison to their away visit to Glasgow last week.
He continued: “I quite like it, to be fair (facing Celtic and Rangers two games in a row). We had a back-to-back, I think, two years ago, and I quite enjoyed that process.
“Going to Ibrox is different from playing Celtic here. When you’re on your own ground, you can be a wee bit more aggressive, hopefully.
“Two different games and two different game plans.”
Celtic must put in a similar performance to our last Livingston trip in order to take maximum points.
In recent years, under several different managers, Celtic have struggled to go to Livingston’s home ground and pick up all three points.
However, last season, that frustrating run came to an end when Ange Postecoglou’s side ran out 3-1 winners towards the back end of the title-winning campaign.
And a similar level of performance to that day is needed in order to take home the maximum amount of points home this Sunday.
Livingston have shown how much of a threat they can be this season, and there is no better example than their result at Ibrox last weekend.
So, Ange and his coaching staff must get the preparation and starting 11 spot on as we look to come away with another valuable victory on the road.
In other news, Former Celtic defender Efe Ambrose joins 5th SPFL side since Hoops exit.
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