With Celtic two points clear at the top of the Premiership and victorious in 14 of their previous 15 league matches—scoring two or more goals in 11 of those games—the suggestion of turmoil in Glasgow’s east end may appear surprising.
Yet the optimism created by Sunday’s comfortable victory at Motherwell was swiftly replaced by concern following a 4-1 Europa League loss to Benfica on Thursday.
Celtic rarely lose four times in five matches, while their manager only recently debated whether to remain in charge before choosing to continue. Tensions between the club and parts of its support have added to the difficult atmosphere.
Martin O’Neill, however, has highlighted the strength of the opposition and drawn encouragement from Celtic’s better performance after half-time in Lisbon.
Celtic should still be widely expected to increase their five-point advantage over the team in third place on Sunday. Their other recent defeats also came against strong opponents—second-placed Rangers twice and Ferencvaros—rather than weaker domestic teams.
If Hearts are to compete for the championship under Wouter Vrancken, as they did with Derek McInnes last season, they must improve an away league record that includes only two victories in 11 matches and no clean sheets.
The most damaging of their six losses during that sequence occurred on their previous trip to Celtic Park, where the home side ended Hearts’ three-match unbeaten streak in the fixture and moved above the long-standing leaders on the final day of last season.
Nevertheless, Hearts have won two of their last six matches at Celtic Park and have suffered only one defeat in 13 games across all competitions. They will still regret allowing a late equaliser against Danish club Nordsjaelland in their opening Conference League fixture.
Although Hearts’ attacking players have received much of the praise, their defensive numbers are also impressive, with only Rangers facing as few goal attempts in the Premiership this season.
That resilience will be challenged by a Celtic team responsible for more attempts on goal than any other side. O’Neill also appears ready to make an attacking change, suggesting Camilo Duran could move in from the flank to replace the out-of-form Kasper Hogh as the central striker.
Leading teams can be especially vulnerable in domestic matches immediately after European commitments, raising the question of whether Celtic’s additional travel will influence the outcome.
What do you feel about this post?
Like
Love
Happy
Haha
Sad
