Sports Mole previews Saturday’s Scottish Premiership clash between Celtic and Hearts, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Celtic are unbeaten in all competitions since March, and they will also look to continue their impressive run in the Scottish Premiership when they host Hearts on Saturday.
While Hearts are the last team to have defeated Celtic, the visitors are yet to taste victory in their seven games so far this season.
Match preview
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Celtic are purring and will be brimming with confidence as they come into Saturday’s game top of the league on goal difference, and fresh off a 3-0 win over their arch-rivals Rangers.
Goals from Daizen Maeda, Kyogo Furuhashi and Callum McGregor sealed what was a commanding victory for the Hoops, and Brendan Rodgers‘s side are once again proving to be a cut above the rest in Scotland’s top-flight.
So far in all competitions this season, Celtic have won five games out of five with 15 goals scored and just one conceded.
The Hoops also boast the highest xG (1.99) and the lowest xGA (0.75) from their four league games, as they look to make it four Scottish Premiership titles in a row and a remarkable 14 out of the last 15 seasons.
Having sold Matt O’Riley to Brighton and Hove Albion over the summer, midfield reinforcements Arne Engels from FC Augsburg, Luke McCowan from Dundee and Paulo Bernardo from Benfica have certainly lessened the blow with how well they have settled in this season.
With a favourable Champions League draw and a Scottish League Cup quarter-final against Falkirk to look forward to later this month, there is plenty of reason for optimism for the Glasgow outfit.
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While all is well for Celtic, that is certainly not the case for Hearts, who sit in 11th in the table and are winless across their first seven games in all competitions this season.
Their most recent game was a 1-0 home defeat against Dundee United at the beginning of September, when Ross Graham‘s late strike was enough for the away side to take all three points from Tynecastle.
Steven Naismith‘s side also crashed out of the play-off stage of the Europa League, as they lost 2-0 on aggregate to Czech outfit Viktoria Plzen.
As a result of their domestic and European form, The Jam Tarts are now winless in seven games and they were also dumped out of the League Cup by Scottish Championship side Falkirk.
This poor start to the season is a huge surprise given the fact that Hearts finished third last season with 20 wins from their 38 games, which included two 2-0 wins over Celtic.
The 2-0 victory at Celtic Park was particularly impressive, as goals from Lawrence Shankland and Stephen Kingsley gave Hearts their first win at Celtic in 14 years, but on current form it appears that they will need a small miracle to even come away with a point on Saturday.
Celtic Scottish Premiership form:
Celtic form (all competitions):
Hearts Scottish Premiership form:
Hearts form (all competitions):
Team News
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Rodgers has a fully-fit squad to pick from, and given the excellent performance of his side against Rangers, it would be a surprise if he made too many changes to his starting XI.
In Nicolas Kuhn, Maeda and Kyogo, Celtic have a terrific attacking trio, and all three should start again here as they look to continue their fine start to the season.
The only injury concern for Hearts is their long-term absentee Calem Nieuwenhof (tendon tear), but Beni Baningime (knee) is closing in on a return from his injury.
Elsewhere, The Jam Tarts will be hoping that Shankland finds his scoring boots soon, but he will need support from the likes of Yutaro Oda and Kenneth Vargas on the flanks if he is to be effective on the counter-attack.
Celtic possible starting lineup:
Schmeichel; Johnston, Carter-Vickers, Scales, Taylor; McGregor, Bernardo, Hatate; Kuhn, Maeda, Kyogo
Hearts possible starting lineup:
Gordon; Kingsley, Halkett, Kent, Penrice; Boateng, Grant, Spittal; Oda, Vargas, Shankland
We say: Celtic 3-0 Hearts
While Hearts did beat Celtic twice last season, their current form is a huge concern and it would be a surprise to see anything other than a convincing home win.
The Hoops are in great form and are playing some sensational football, and while we expect them to make it five wins from five in the league this Saturday, they could have one eye on their Champions League opener in midweek.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.