Celtic to be leading at half-time looks like an interesting selection against St Johnstone, especially based on their first-half numbers so far this season. Celtic have started the league campaign with five wins from five matches and have already shown a strong tendency to take control early. Across those five league games, Celtic have scored eight goals before half-time while conceding just one. They have been ahead at the break in three of their opening five league matches, giving them a 60% first-half win rate. Those half-time leads include:

3-0 vs Kilmarnock
2-0 vs Falkirk
3-0 vs Aberdeen

Overall, Celtic are averaging 1.6 first-half goals per league game and have kept a first-half clean sheet in four of their five matches. St Johnstone are the main reason this is not rated even higher. They have only been behind at half-time once in their opening five league matches, meaning they have managed to stay level or lead at the break in four of five games.Their recent half-time scores include:

1-1 vs Kilmarnock
0-0 vs St Mirren
0-2 vs Hearts
0-0 vs Dundee
2-1 vs Hibernian

So St Johnstone have generally been difficult to break down early. However, Celtic represent a considerably stronger attacking test than most of those opponents. Celtic have won all five league games overall, scored eight first-half goals already and have been ahead at the break in 60% of their matches. With their superior attacking quality and expected territorial dominance, they have a strong chance of putting St Johnstone under sustained pressure from the opening whistle. At odds around 1.90–1.95, the implied probability is roughly 51–53%. Based on Celtic’s current first-half production, I would put the true probability closer to 55–58%.

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