Falkirk v Celtic: Team news, referee details, KO time & where to watch

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The Celtic Star

·14 January 2026

Falkirk v Celtic: Team news, referee details, KO time & where to watch

Martin O’Neill takes Celtic to the Falkirk Stadium this evening with his side in better shape after a return to business as usual at the weekend, with a back four and four goals. Now four days later there’s a chance to build some momentum after the wreckage of the 33-day rein of Wilfried Nancy cost Celtic a dozen points and left us trailing Hearts by six points.

Benjamin Nygren celebrates his goal during the Scottish Premiership match between Celtic and Dundee United at Celtic Park on January 10, 2026. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

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The league leaders welcome Premier Sports Cup winners St Mirren to Tynecastle this evening and both Derek McInnes and Martin O’Neill will be looking to collect the three points each has on offer ahead of the pair meeting in Edinburgh in the next league match on Sunday 25 January.

Hearts will have home advantage and a week to prepare for the visit of the Champions while Celtic will have the added complication of an important Europa League match in Italy against Bologna FC 1909 a few days before the trip to Tynecastle.

Arne Engels of Celtic celebrates scoring to give Celtic a 2-0 lead. Celtic v Dundee United, Scottish Premiership, 10 January 2026. Photo Stuart Wallace IMAGO/Shutterstock

Tonight Celtic face an admirable Falkirk side which has travelled through the divisions and find themselves in the top six after back-to-back wins over Aberdeen and St Mirren. The Falkirk manager John McGlynn, as reported on The Celtic Star earlier today, stated that his side comes into the game against Celtic in a good place.

Martin O’Neill meanwhile had this to say about the game against Falkirk this evening: “The Falkirk game is a big match for us. They’re a team who are flying at the moment. I thought that even when we won in my opening game of the last period, I thought they were very strong.

Celtic interim manager Martin O Neill. Final score Celtic 4 Dundee united 0. Celtic v Dundee United, Scottish Premiership, Celtic Park, 10 January 2026. Photo Stuart Wallace Shutterstock

“We got a couple of goals at important moments and that deflated them a little bit but I have the utmost regard for the manager and the job that he’s done there.”

Celtic Team News

Benjamin Nygren could replace Reo Hatate and Stephen Welsh, interrupting his loan spell at Motherwell, is likely to be on the bench. Despite rumours to the contrary, Auston Trusty is fully fit and will be available to start.

Dario Nammo of Dundee United vies with Sebastian Tounekti of Celtic during the Scottish Premiership match between Celtic and Dundee United at Celtic Park on January 10, 2026. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Expect Kasper Schmeichel to keep the gloves with a back four Julian Araujo, Auston Trusty, Liam Scales and Kieran Tierney. In the middle of the park the Celtic Captian Callum McGregor will be joined by Arne Engels and either Reo Hatate of Benjamin Nygren, with the Sweden international perhaps getting the nod.

The front three picks itself – partly due to boardroom failings – so expect the inform Yang on the right, Daizen Maeda through the middle and Sebastian Tounekti – who had his best game in a Celtic shirt at the weekend – to play on the left of Celtic’s front three.

Predicted Celtic Team (4-3-3)*

Yang Hyun-Jun of Celtic during the Scottish Premiership match between Celtic and Dundee United at Celtic Park on January 10, 2026. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Schmeichel; Araujo, Trusty, Scales, Tierney; McGregor(c), Engels, Nygren; Yang, Maeda, Tounekti Subs: Sinisalo, Donovan, Ralston, Welsh, Murray, Hatate, McCowan, Bernardo, Kenny, Forrest

Match Officials

Referee John Beaton during the Premier Sports Cup Final between Celtic and theRangers at Hampden on Sunday 15 December 2024. Photo Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)

The Scottish FA has confirmed that tonight’s Falkirk v Celtic match at the Falkirk Stadium in the Scottish Premiership will have the following match officials: Referee – John Beaton. Assistant referees – Ross Macleod and Alistair Mather. VAR – Grant Irvine. Assistant VAR – Ross Hardie.

Kick-off Time

Falkirk v Celtic kicks off at 7.45pm. The match is a complete sell-out with Celtic having conducted. ballot to allocate the away allocation of 600 tickets.

Where to Watch

The Falkirk v Celtic match is live on Premier Sports 1 with build-up and prematch interviews starting at 7.15pm. Subscribers to Celtic TV based outside of Britain and Ireland can also watch the game live as usual.

Score Prediction

A tough game, Falkirk will take the game to Celtic and could score but Celtic have just about enough to secure the vital three points in a 2-1 away win for the Bhoys.

COYBIG!

*Thank heavens!

https://twitter.com/FalkirkFC/status/2011362666711769451?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

https://twitter.com/CelticFC/status/2011362665898058157?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

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