Celtic v Livingston – This feels like it’s going to be a slog

Today feels like it’s going to be a slog, let’s hope it’s not…

It’s game day as we get set to take on Livingston in the quarter final of the Scottish Cup at Celtic Park. With a place in the semi-finals up for grabs and a step closer to retaining the trophy we won last May, it’s vital we get the right result to stop our season imploding even further.

Make no mistake, failure to beat the side who sit bottom of the league would be nothing short of catastrophic.

Livingston have been dreadful this campaign and outside of Morton we couldn’t have asked for a better draw at this stage of the competition. We should be beating them especially at home, and if we come up short there can be no excuses.

The last time we played Livingston at Celtic Park we were victorious in a 2-0 victory, but not after a slog of a first half performance and it wasn’t until two quick fire goals by Kyogo and Liam Scales just after the restart that we could breathe easily in the game.

I unfortunately expect a similar game today, but I’m happy to be proven wrong. It’s a cup game and anything can happen, but Livi will revert to their usual stifling tactics, which is only fair as it is their right. We will however struggle to break them down if our recent form is anything to go by.

Forget the 7-1 thumping of Dundee, that was a different ball-game as unlike most sides that come to Celtic Park, the dark blues were a bit more open in their play, unlike David Martindales side. He will park the bus as usual.

With two of our most creative players missing in Luis Palma and Yang, it will make it all the more tougher for us to breach the Livi rearguard today. We need an early goal to propel us to a victory, if we fail to do so, I expect a long hard afternoon but expect us to get there in the end. And as it’s a cup-tie, that’s all that really matters.

Just an Ordinary Bhoy