Celts Seeking Capital Coronation

Celts Seeking Capital Coronation
~~~~~~~~~~ Official TC Match Preview ~~~~~~~~~~


The Bhoys celebrate Jota's goal in the Scottish Cup Semi-Final Win last weekend


Tynecastle Stadium, Edinburgh
Sunday, 7 May 2023
14.15 BST

Celtic are on the verge of claiming the Premiership crown for the 53rd time in the Club's history, when they travel through to Edinburgh to take on Hearts this weekend.

Now that the Bhoys have secured their place in next month's Scottish Cup Final, all of the focus now turns back to the remaining league games, beginning on Sunday as they seek to secure the Premiership crown, as the League splits in two.

First up is a visit to Tynecastle, where the ghosts of the opening day of the Postecoglou era have been firmly put to rest, as the Hoops have won every subsequent meeting between these sides since that day in July 2021.

With the end of the campaign in sight, the Bhoys will want to finish off in style and get the party started. A fortnight ago, the Hoops were held to a 1-1 draw by Motherwell - just the third time this season that Celtic has not claimed maximum points - and the 1-0 win over Sevco was enough to set up securing what would be a record 8th treble, but for now, the pressing hope is that Ange's side will secure the title with a flourish.

And if so, it will confirm the only coronation that matters this weekend; that of the 2022/23 Scottish Premiership Champions!​

March: Aaron Mooy opened the scoring in the 3-0 Scottish Cup win when these sides last met

In their way stands a Jambos outfit that ha's been in some disarray of late. Over the past couple of months they have let their grasp on third slip and are now trailing Aberdeen by 5 points in the race for 'best of the rest', and a string of 6 consecutive defeats proving the final nails and ended up costing Robbie Neilsen his job.

The hosts did put Ross County to the sword with a heavy 6-1 win over the Highlanders in their last league outimg under Steven Naismith, who is currently in temporary charge of the Gorgie side.

However, there is a pretty big step up between the Jambos defeating the Staggies, currently sitting bottom and are facing an uphill battle to avoid relegation this season, compared to taking on the Champions-in-waiting, who are highly motivated by the prospect of clinching the Premiership title.

By the Numbers​

• The Hoops have dropped just 4 points in the League since September.

• Celtic are undefeated in their last 12 'Away' outings in the Premiership, winning 11 of these.

• The Bhoys have won each of the past 8 meetings in all competitions between these sides.

• Hearts have kept just 1 clean sheet in the past 10 Premiership games.

• The Edinburgh side's 6-1 win over Ross County in their last outing was their first win after 6 straight losses.

Anthony Ralston will return to the starting XI for this weekend's game with Hearts

Team News

Following the Scottish Cup Semi-Final victory last weekend, Ange Postecoglou confirmed that Cameron Carter-Vickers has played his last game for the season. Elsewhere, fullback Alistair Johnston is also ruled out and will join wingers James Forrest and Liel Abada in the treatment room.

Yuki Kobayashi and Anthony Ralston are expected to come into the backline in the place of Carter-Vickers and Johnston respectively.

As for the hosts,Beni Baningime and Liam Boyce are closing in on a return to action after both have resumed training recently after extensive injury lay-offs, but neither is likely to feature this weekend. Craig Halkett (knee) and former Celts, Craig Gordon (leg) and Gary Mackay-Steven (foot) all remained sidelined also.

Referee: Nick Walsh

Walsh has taken charge of 18 Premiership games this season and has 134 top flight matches to his name. Along the way, Walsh has awarded 12 League Penalties - the joint most by any single referee this season. This will be the first time Walsh will take charge of a game involving Celtic since the League Cup Final victory, back in February.

Celtic's Overall Record
M: 28 W: 23 D: 4 L: 1

VAR: Willie Collum



~~~~ Head to Head ~~~~

Overall
P: 265 W: 184 D: 47 L: 34​

Last 5 Meetings
W W W W W

~~~~ 2022/23 Form ~~~~

All Comps
W D W W W ~ W L L L L
​