Celtic will begin yet another Scottish Premiership title defence on Saturday as they host Livingston in their first league game of the season.

The Hoops have won the last seven top flight titles in Scotland and will be aiming for an eighth in the upcoming campaign, although manager Brendan Rodgers is expecting the league to be competitive.

"I've thoroughly enjoyed being up here for the couple of seasons. I think, as a whole, it's a really competitive league," he told the club's official website.

"Teams that have come up will look to impose their game as well so, all in all, it'll make for a very exciting season. It'll be very competitive again, like it's been the two years we've been here, but, like I say, it's not just about defending the title for us, we have to win it."

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Going up against Celtic is former Rangers striker Kenny Miller, who has taken a player-manager role with Livingston, and could well feature this weekend.

Ahead of the game, he told Sky Sports: "What a test and what a first game for the lads. It's a real reward for all the hard work they have put in over the last two years.

"We are really looking forward to it and we will only enjoy it if we put the work in and do ourselves justice."

Team news

Celtic will welcome back Leigh Griffiths, who has returned to the squad following his injury lay-off, while Jozo Simunovic is also back in contention following his European suspension.

Livingston could hand debuts to former Partick Thistle winger Steven Lawless and on-loan Millwall defender James Brown. Ricki Lamie is available again after suspension but Callum Crane misses the game thanks to a ban he picked up last term.

Ryan Hardie (foot) and Raffaele De Vita (knee) remain on the sidelines, meaning player-boss Miller is likely to lead the attack himself.

Match stats

Celtic are on a 15-match winning run in the league against Livingston and have only ever dropped points against them once in the Scottish Premiership (0-0 in August 2001), which is also the only time Celtic have failed to score against them in the division.

Despite only failing to score in one of their eight visits to Celtic Park in the Scottish Premiership, Livingston have lost all eight of those games.

Celtic have not lost on the opening day in their previous 20 such games in the Scottish Premiership (W17 D3), winning each of their last 10.

Livingston have only lost one of their five opening game fixtures in the Scottish Premiership (W3 D1), in a 3-0 defeat to Rangers in 2005.

Last season, Celtic did not lose a league game when they scored the first goal (W21 D3), which was the best such record in the division.

In their last season in the Scottish Premiership (2005-06), Livingston only won two of their last 20 games (D1 L17).

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