The Hoops will be hoping to get revenge on top of maintaining their Premiership campaign when they go to Edinburgh on Sunday to play Hearts, who are currently in third position, at TTC Edinburgh.
Midweek, when they thrashed Dundee 7-1, the Bhoys demonstrated exactly how strong and deadly they can be when everything comes together.
Even though the Bhoys put on a strong display, it’s crucial to remember that they are still two points behind the league leaders heading into this weekend, even though they have closed the goal difference deficit.
While it appears that Brendan Rodgers has finally stumbled upon a starting XI that could prove to be the catalyst for the Hoops’ surge to the end of the season, it has only been one and a half games, and as such, still too soon to be sure.
The inclusion of Tomoki Iwata’s composure in midfield has allowing Callum McGregor’s skills to be better utilized in a more advanced role. On the right side, Yang Hyun-jun and Alistair Johnston have struck up a promising partnership that could give opposition fullback’s nightmares, while Adam Idah has added some much needed physicality up front.
When these componants have been harnessed together this past week it has already produced an astounding 9 goals in just 106 minutes on the pitch together. That is a remarkable return, especially considering the struggles the Bhoys have had in recent times finding the back of the net prior to that.
On Sunday, the Hoops will need to be ready for a challenging greeting following Hearts’ challenging week.
This past week saw the Gorgie club’s run of eight straight victories come to an abrupt end, sending them 14 points clear in third position, ahead of Killie in fourth. They were lucky to escape with a point from Wednesday’s 1-1 draw in the Edinburgh derby, despite being outplayed by their city rivals, following their disastrous 5-0 loss to Ipox that occurred last weekend.
After all, no Celtic fan will have forgotten that the last time these sides met – although many wish they probably could. Brendan Rodgers side were on a high after defeating Feyenoord in the Champions League going into the game, yet were utterly dismal in what was an abject display at home, which was duly punished, 2-0 by Hearts.
The outcome was not only the first victory for the Capital team at Parkhead since 2009, but it also put a stop to an unbeaten streak of almost 50 domestic games at Paradise dating back to January 2021.
Even though Celtic has just won a few games so far, they must keep up the pressure on the league leaders and simply keep up this performance if they want to win the championship.
If the situation of needing to stay in touch with the league leaders were not motivation enough coming into this game, then surely the opportunity to restore some pride and gain some measure of payback for the ignomony of that December defeat should provide more than enough to have the Celts fully up for this clash.
