On Saturday Celtic make their last trip of the season when we head to third placed Prescot. Prescot currently have sixty-one points and are nine places and eleven points ahead of twelfth placed Celtic. Kick-off is 3pm.
Prescot have stumbled a little in recent weeks, drawing three and losing one of their last four. Their form up to February lifted them to top spot briefly. They won fifteen of their twenty-three games after losing their opening two. Since then, they have won three of their last twelve, mainly getting draws, with six of those games draws. Despite having ten draws this season, none of them were goalless, with the only games they’ve failed to score in all being losses. Their last home win was at the end of March when they beat Chasetown 1-0, their last two home matches were both draws, against Hednesford and Runcorn. This has left them in a precarious position with two games to go, with Witton, Widnes and Liverpool all capable of catching them. Even with one more win, they’re not safe, unless two of those teams lose on Saturday.
John Murphy leads Prescot’s goal scorer’s chart, with fifteen goals, putting him joint fourth overall in the league. Kyle Sambor and James Foley have eight each. On average, Prescot score 1.7 goals a game, whilst conceding 0.9 goals per game at home and 1.1 overall. They’ve kept five clean sheets at home and five away, whilst failing to score three times at home from seven overall.
We drew 1-1 with Prescot when they visited earlier in the season, with Jack Irlam cancelling out John Murphy’s immediately. Our last visit was in the FA Trophy in 2017, which ended goalless and Celtic won the replay 5-1.
In Prescot’s last match, their 4-2 loss away at Widnes, Prescot lined up as:
1. Mitchell Allen
2. Alex McNally
3. Matthew Devine
4. Anthony Donaldson
5. Nathan Koehler
6. James Devine
7. Jack Goodwin
8. James Foley
9. Thomas Owens
10. Francis Smith
11. Kyle Sambor
In Celtic’s last match, the 1-0 home defeat to Chasetown, Celtic lined up as:
1. Luke Hewitson
2. Pawel Zuk
3. Cole Lonsdale
4. Greg Wilkinson
5. Max Leonard
6. Jack Tinning
7. Brad Byrne
8. Jordan Butterworth
9. Matty Bryan
10. Darius Osei
11. Obua Mugalula
Celtic could still finish in the top ten, but a win would only see us reach tenth depending on Chasetown and Clitheroe’s games at home to Mossley and Hednesford respectively.
