Celtic's Key Players Durán and Nygren Face St. Mirren Test
Camilo Durán has not eased his way into life at Celtic. He has torn straight through it. Six goals in seven appearances in all competitions, three in his last two Scottish Premiership outings, and a scoring rate of a goal every 97 minutes. The Colombian has gone from new signing to central pillar of Martin O’Neill’s attack in the space of a few weeks.
He is not doing it alone.
On the other flank of Celtic’s threat, Benjamin Nygren is stitching together the kind of early-season form that defines campaigns. Five goal involvements in four league matches – three goals, two assists – underline how quickly he has become the creative heartbeat of this side. His record in the Premiership is strikingly consistent: he has scored or assisted against 10 of the 11 teams he has faced in the division.
The outlier? St. Mirren. Three games, no return. That statistic hangs over this fixture like a challenge.
O’Neill’s perfect record and Celtic’s relentless run
History offers little comfort to St. Mirren when O’Neill is in the opposite dugout. Under the Northern Irishman, Celtic have faced St. Mirren seven times in all competitions. They have won all seven, by an aggregate score of 16-2. That is not a quirk. It is dominance.
Within the club’s long history, only three Celtic managers can boast a longer perfect run against a single opponent:
- Jock Stein went 11 from 11 against Raith Rovers.
- Brendan Rodgers won all nine of his meetings with Hamilton Academical.
- Ange Postecoglou took eight wins from eight against Ross County.
O’Neill’s seven from seven against St. Mirren now sits in that elite company.
It mirrors Celtic’s wider league form. The Hoops have strung together 11 consecutive league victories, sweeping aside all four opponents so far this season. Since the start of last term, their Premiership record under O’Neill reads: 27 games, 23 wins, two draws, two defeats. That works out at 2.63 points per game, title-winning pace in any era.
This is not just a good run. It is a sustained standard.
St. Mirren’s resurgence and the power of second place
St. Mirren, though, are not the soft touch of old. Their recent numbers tell a very different story.
They have taken four wins from their last six league matches, drawing the other two. That six-game burst already eclipses the return from their previous 20 league outings, when they managed just three wins, four draws and 13 defeats. Something has shifted. Results have hardened.
And the league table adds another layer of intrigue.
When a side starting the day second in the Scottish Premiership hosts the team on top, the home team have enjoyed the better of it in recent seasons. Three wins from the last five such meetings, with one draw and one defeat. That is a better record than the nine equivalent fixtures before that run, where the second-placed hosts managed only two wins, three draws and four losses.
So the numbers whisper a warning: being top does not guarantee control in these head-to-heads. Second place, at home, has become a dangerous position.
Durán in form, Nygren chasing his first contribution against St. Mirren, O’Neill defending a flawless record, and a resurgent home side armed with the weight of recent trends. For Celtic, this is another chance to stretch a winning streak. For St. Mirren, it is an invitation to tear up the script.
