Celtic 2 xG 3.60
(Turnbull 18 and Oh 83) St Mirren 1 xG 0.48
(McMenamin 7) Celtic had 2.94 xPts in this game which was the most of any game this season although it certainly didn't feel like that when watching live at the game.
It's the first time the season (domestically) that Celtic's opponents were winning more in the game than Celtic were with Celtic winning for 7 minutes and St Mirren winning for 11 minutes.
Celtic's xPts and xG were more in this game than both games against St Mirren at home last season.
Celtic's possession and passes were less than the two home games versus St Mirren last year however their final third passes were more than both games. Celtic had 361 final third passes and last season it was 259 and 339. 48% of Celtic's passes were in the final third in this game compared to 34% and 43% last season.
Similar to the Hibernian game and Rodgers' Celtic team playing more passes in the final third than Ange's Celtic team which is not necessarily what you would expect.
Celtic had 21 shots at goal which is more than the two visits to Easter Road last season however the Non Penalty xG of 1.48 was less than both games last season which were 1.69 and 1.59. The Non Penalty xG per shot 0.07 was less than last season's 0.089 and 0.094. Shot map below with Celtic's shots on the right.
Celtic had an xG of 3.6 and Non Penalty xG of 2.81 and those were the 2nd highest of the season (Hearts away was the highest). Celtic's xGA of 0.48 was their lowest of the season which is a good sign although St Mirren are better known for their defensive qualities than attacking ones and at the game St Mirren looked more dangerous than these stats reflect.
Celtic's xG was at its strongest in the last quarter of the match.
Callum McGregor had 13% of the team's passes which was a big jump from the 8.4% on Saturday and Palma had 5.3% of the team's passes which is very high for a winger. Phillips had the most passes with 115 and it was only the 2nd time this season that the right centre back had the most passes in the team as it usually is the left centre back (and most usually Scales).
Celtic's defenders had 60.9% of the team's passes and that is the 2nd highest of the season with the St Johnstone game being the highest at 62%. The other game where Celtic dropped points.
Celtic's midfield had 29% of the team's passes which was a better number than Saturday's 23.5%. Celtic lined up with;
Hart
Johnston, Phillips, Scales and Taylor
O'Riley, McGregor and Turnbull
Forrest, Kyogo and Palma
Celtic made three change to the starting line up from the weekend with Phillips, Turnbull and Forrest coming in for Carter-Vickers, Bernardo and Maeda. Maeda and Bernardo dropped to the bench with Carter-Vickers rested and not in the squad at all. His place in the squad was taken by Nawrocki.
Also coming in to the squad was Holm and he replaced Mikey Johnston.
Yang, Maeda, Holm and Oh came on as subs for Palma, Forrest, O'Riley and Turnbull. Unused subs were Bain, Nawrocki, Iwata, Ralston and Bernardo. Best performers in this game for xG were Kyogo on 0.95 and Turnbull on 0.94 and best for xA were Turnbull on 0.43 and McGregor on 0.26. Top goal contributor was Turnbull on 1.37. Top rated players were Palma 7.9, Scales 7.6 and McGregor 7.6 and the lowest rated were Hart 6.3, Kyogo 6.6 and Forrest 6.9.
Edited - Yang was actually 2nd top rated player at 7.8.
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