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David Martindale’s Livingston did Celtic a huge favor last weekend when they drew 1-1 against Rangers at Ibrox. The result saw Ange Postecoglou’s side go four points clear at the top of the table as they won 4-3 against Hearts in a crunch away fixture marred by VAR controversy in Edinburgh.
This time though, it will be Celtic who take on Livingston as they travel away to take on the Martindale side.
The result at Ibrox probably didn’t hurt their confidence and they would certainly believe that they can take something from the game against Celtic as well. At the same time, it seems that Martindale will not approach both games in the same way.
In fact, the Livingston manager clearly sees Celtic as the team to beat this season and was full of praise for them. Speaking to Sky Sports, Martindale said:
“Two completely different games. I think Celtic are the team to beat. I think Ange has done a fantastic job. They’re flying. He’s very, very hard to break down and very, very hard to stop. But we’ll go into the game with their own game plan.
“Probably two banks of five, just kidding. We will go in and try to impose our game plan on Celtic but I think they are the team to beat this season.
“I think they are fantastic. From the moment Ange walked into that building to where they are now, they’ve come a long way, he’s changed them. They are a top, top team.”
The coach of Livingstone is full of praise before the clash with Celtic
While it’s great to hear praise from rival managers, Livingston will do everything in their power to take points away from Celtic at the whistle, so Postecoglou’s side must be ready to be at their best.
Interestingly, Celtic have not looked the most convincing of late, apart from wins over Hibernian and Motherwell.
Before that, they were on a seven-match streak, winning just twice and losing four, while finding the back of the net just six times. And their win against Hearts was close too, although there’s a lot to be said for some of the decisions on the day. They haven’t won a single game when it comes to the Champions League and their last chance to do so is against Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu.
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