On Saturday, weather permitting, Celtic travel to Liverpool to face Bootle. Bootle are seventh in the table, one place and one point behind Celtic, making this a big game for a play-off spot. Kick-off 3pm.

With eleven games to go games against those in the table around us are bigger than those too far away, and one place, one point makes this huge. Win, and Celtic put some gap against a team with a game in hand, lose and we drop a place, and risk Bootle getting away from us. To make the game harder for Celtic, Bootle have won their last five, unbeaten in seven and lost once since the start of November, away at Nantwich. Their last home defeat was seven games ago in October, when Congleton Town beat them. A glimmer of hope comes in Bootle’s home form. Only Lower Breck have won more away matches than Bootle, and they have lost the fewest away matches of any team. In the tables top half, Bootle have won the fewest home matches this season, at six, based on home results alone, Bootle would be fourteenth, whilst on away wins, Celtic are third.

Scoring at home might be the problem. With twenty-one of their forty-seven goals at home, they have the fifth worst home attack, though they also have the fifth best home defence, conceding seventeen of their thirty-five goals at home. Four of their nine clean sheets came at home, whilst four of their six failures to score also were in Bootle. Bootle have had more goalless draws than any other team in the league, at eight, and they have never gone on to win a game they were losing at half time at home. Courtney Dufus leads their goal-scoring chart, with twelve, Ben Hodkinson three behind on nine.

Since the 1990s, we’ve met Bootle eight times, though, with the 1993 game being an FA Cup draw at Bower Fold and a replay in Bootle (Celtic won 3-1) seven times is more accurate. Earlier this season, they beat us at Bower Fold, 1-0, with Celtic disappointingly flat in that game. Our previous visit to Bootle was also disappointing, when we lost 5-2, with Celtic’s goals coming from Joe Duckworth and Greg Wilkinson. We had an excuse in that match, with the central defence stretched thin by injuries. The last time we beat them was early last season, when we won 2-1 at home (Sean Tse and Matty Bryan with the goals), and our last win there was the season before when we won 4-0 (Darius Palmer, Aaron Dwyer and jack Tinning with the goals).

In Bootle’s last match, the 2-0 away win over Atherton, Bootle lined up as:
1. Tony Thompson
2. Jay Roberts
3. Xavier Smith
4. Matthew Fenton
5. Michael Simpson
6. Lewis Earl
7. Sam Hughes
8. Jack Lenehan
9. Courtney Dufus
10. Jack McGowan
11. Joe Wooley

In Celtic’s last match, the 3-3 home draw with Clitheroe, Celtic lined up as:
1. Charlie Monks
2. Mike Koral
3. Kyle Brownhill
4. Aaron Chalmers
5. Jack Byrne
6. Andy Scarisbrick
7. Charlie Doyle
8. Liam Tongue
9. Ruben Jerome
10. Jack Irlam
11. Ellis Horan

Ruben Jerome is joint second in the league goal-scorers chart, one goal behind Hawley (Avro), Panter (Nantwich) and Tilt (Khalsa).

If results go Celtic’s way, we could go back into the top five, with Vauxhall (away at Witton) level on points and ahead on goal difference. That could put us level on points with Runcorn (away at Shifnal), but they have a better goal difference. Lower Breck (at home to Wythenshawe) and Avro (away at Kidsgrove) are both four points clear, while Bury (at home to Khalsa) are now eight points ahead. If results don’t go our way, and we lose to Bootle, they will leapfrog us, but we are nine points clear of the chasing pack.