This season, the Scottish Cup has been a bright spot for St Johnstone, offering rare moments of triumph amid an otherwise challenging campaign. Narrow 1-0 victories over Motherwell in the fourth round, Hamilton Academical in the fifth, and Livingston in the quarter-finals have kept their cup dreams alive. However, their journey now faces its sternest challenge yet—a semi-final clash against Scottish Premiership leaders Celtic at Hampden Park.
Under Brendan Rodgers, Celtic have once again dominated Scottish football. They are on the verge of securing the Premiership title, having already lifted the League Cup and remaining in contention for the Scottish FA Cup. With a massive 15-point lead at the top and only 15 points left to play for, the league trophy is all but guaranteed. Now, their focus shifts to completing a historic domestic treble by retaining the Scottish FA Cup for a third consecutive year.
Despite their dominance, Celtic may approach this match with some caution. Their usually relentless form has wavered slightly in the closing stages of the league campaign, suffering two defeats in their last four games—including a surprising 1-0 loss to St Johnstone. That result, however, remains an outlier in an otherwise one-sided rivalry. Since their last defeat to the Saints in May 2016, Celtic have been nearly unstoppable, winning 28 and drawing four of their last 32 meetings across all competitions.
For St Johnstone, this semi-final presents a monumental opportunity to defy the odds. But against a Celtic side hungry for another treble, they will need more than just determination to keep their cup hopes alive.
The Scottish Premiership title race has been decided for quite some time. Celtic, having already secured the League Cup back in November after a dramatic penalty shootout victory over Rangers, can now turn their full attention to retaining the Scottish Cup.
With their fiercest rivals, Rangers, already eliminated from the competition—and Hibernian, the league’s most in-form team in 2025, also knocked out after a 2-0 defeat to Brendan Rodgers’ side in the previous round—it would be a major surprise if Celtic didn’t add another Scottish Cup to their trophy cabinet next month.
Their next challenge comes against St Johnstone, a team whose battle for Premiership survival suffered another setback last weekend. A narrow 1-0 loss to Dundee United further dented their hopes, though our tipster Mark still managed to find a couple of winning bets from the match.
Despite sitting five points behind 11th-placed Dundee in the league table, St Johnstone will draw confidence from their recent shock 1-0 win over Celtic just two weeks ago. That unexpected result proves they can compete with the champions, even if the odds are heavily stacked against them this time around.
Given Celtic’s dominance and the lack of serious challengers left in the competition, anything other than a Celtic victory would be a genuine upset. But as their last meeting showed, football always has room for surprises.
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