On Saturday, Celtic host their penultimate home match of the season when Chasetown come visiting. Chasetown are currently twelfth in the league on forty-seven points, three points and two places below Celtic. Kick off 3pm.

Chasetown have blown hot and cold this year and it’s fair to say they are better at home than away. At home, they have lost four, drawn five and won nine. Away, they have won four, drawn three and lost ten. This has left them mathematically unable to reach the play-offs. Though they won their last away match, beating Avro 2-0, you have to go back to January 6th to find their previous away win, when they beat Vauxhall 1-0, with six losses in between. Chasetown do now hold the highest league aggregate for a single game, as in their last game they beat City of Liverpool 6-4. A win which means there is a minor miracle of a chance for Celtic to still get in the play-offs.

Their win at Avro was one of three away games in which they have scored more than once. They have failed to score in five away matches, and got one in nine. With fifteen away goals, only Northwich and Vauxhall have scored fewer on the road. On average, they score 0.9 goals per game on the road and 1.3 overall, with their top scorer, Jack Langston, getting a third of their away goals and scoring eleven in total. Defensively, they have kept two of their eight clean sheets on their travels, conceding at a rate of 1.5 goals per away game from 1.4 overall. Strongly mid-table in conceding away.

We played Chasetown earlier in the season at their place, when they won 1-0 to a scrappy late goal after a cracking game in atrocious conditions. Chasetown have also visited Bower Fold before, back in 2015 when they came for an FA Cup replay. Celtic had held them to a 1-1 draw at their place, and won 2-0 back in Stalybridge, with a poacher’s goal from Jack Higgins and a late breakaway from Adam Farrell.

In Chasetown’s last match, the 6-4 home win over Liverpool, Chasetown lined up as:
1. James Wren
2. Oli Hayward
3. Joe Dunne
4. Callum Mendez-Jones
5. Thomas Unwin
6. Sam Wilding
7. Ryan Shaw
8. Jack Langstan
9. Max Chimenes
10. Luke Yates
11. Carter Lycett

In Celtic’s last match, the 4-2 away defeat by Nantwich, Celtic lined up as:
1. Luke Hewitson
2. Ethan Vaughan
3. Cole Lonsdale
4. Greg Wilkinson
5. Connor O’Grady
6. Jack Tinning
7. Joe Robbins
8. Jordan Butterworth
9. Rio Clegg
10. Max Leonard
11. Jordan Burton

A win for Celtic could lift us to eighth, level on points with sixth placed Liverpool (at home to Kidsgrove), leapfrogging Widnes (at home to Prescot on Friday) and Avro (away at Hednesford). A loss would see Chasetown overtake us, and possibly allow Clitheroe (away at Northwich) to drop us into twelfth. Anything other than a win for Celtic would leave us mathematically out of reach of the playoffs. Our chances are firmly in the hands of the teams above us though. Two wins by any of them in the last three matches would render a top five finish over.