Celtic and Hamilton will both want this game out of the way

Hamilton Accies’ great talent is being able to take points off those around them.  They lost to St Johnstone in October, but that was their only defeat to teams in the bottom half of the league since the opening day of the season.  Between now and Boxing Day they play St Mirren, Hearts and St Johnstone, the three teams below them in the table – and all at New Douglas Park (or the Fountain of Youth Stadium, if you insist).

How they perform in those games will go a long way to determining whether or not they are a Premiership team next season.  Their away trips to Celtic Park and Pittodrie between now and then will not feature in their priorities.

This is a game Celtic want to put to bed with as little exertion as possible and Hamilton will want out of the way before preparing for St Mirren on Saturday.  We would do both teams a favour by scoring a few early on and cruising through the second half.