Celtic vs Hearts – Preview, Lineups, Key Men And Score Prediction | OneFootball

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Celtic vs Hearts at Celtic Park on Saturday afternoon will decide the destiny of the Scottish Premiership title, with a showpiece ending to a campaign full of drama, twists and turns.

It seems like only yesterday that the season began, with hopes and dreams for the campaign unblemished. Nine months have whizzed by, and here we are, with most dreams laid to waste and hopes scattered to the winds.

Celtic were plunged into immediate disappointment after the season kicked off, facing elimination from the Champions League at the hands of Kazakh club Kairat during the qualifying phase.

Brendan Rodgers then resigned from the role in October, with the manager said to be unhappy with the lack of summer transfer activity, as the resignation then prompted a vitriolic statement from Celtic’s major shareholder Dermot Desmond.

Martin O’Neill’s appointment on an interim basis then provided a steadying hand, along with fuzzy sentiments with the blast of nostalgia. Just as fans were beginning to think Celtic were getting their ducks in a row, the Bhoys then entered farcical territory with the appointment, and subsequent dismissal, of Wilfried Nancy. Celtic might yet complete the act with the permanent appointment of O’Neill in the summer, with some believing he remains firmly in the race.

That Celtic could yet end the campaign with a league and cup double, is less a vindication of their methods, and more an indictment of the standard of Scottish football outside the top sides.

For a brief while, it appeared that the title might be decided on the penultimate matchday as Motherwell led shortly, and then until the ninth minute of injury time it looked like Celtic would need to win by at least three goals on the final day, but it might be for the best for more than one reason that it has come down to the last matchday.

Hearts’ revenue last year stood at £24m, a figure gazumped by Celtic’s £143m, while Rangers generated £94m. Last summer, Hearts spent £4m, an amount again dwarfed by Rangers’ spending of £40m while Celtic’s transfer spend of £25m was nearly six times that of the Jambos.

Expecting any side to consistently overperform their financial metrics would be unfair, with Scottish top divisions sides barring the Glasgow pair comparable to Championship or even League One sides and dwarfed by Premier League outfits, and revenue from Europe would help with addressing the mismatch, with Hearts securing qualification for Europe’s premier competition for the first time in 20 years.

Derek McInnes has taken a side which finished seventh last season to the brink of a first title in 66 years, having topped the table since September. McInnes branded Celtic’s 99th minute penalty ‘disgusting’, already incensed that his side were denied what he felt were to be two clear penalties in their preceding fixture against Motherwell last Saturday. The manager will need no invitation to use it as a motivational tool, to adopt a siege mentality to right the apparent injustices.

While it might be tempting to suggest that Hearts find themselves in this position because Celtic and Rangers essentially committed self-sabotage, a look at their head-to-head record might suggest otherwise. The Jambos have beaten Rangers three times this season, while being unbeaten against Celtic with two victories, suggesting that they have been the consistently better team throughout the campaign.

There is much to admire about Hearts, starting from fan ownership group The Foundation of Hearts, which helped take the club out of administration in 2014, and their foresight to accept a £10m investment from Tony Bloom for a 29 per cent stake last summer.

Bloom’s Jamestown Analytics firm has hit it out of the park this season, with their work handing an advantage to Union Saint-Gilloise, Como and Brighton, showing that the Hearts signings of, for instance, Alexandros Kyziridis and Claudio Braga are certainly no flukes.

Union Saint-Gilloise trail Club Brugge by a point, essentially half a point with Club Brugge’s total from the regular season rounded up, in the Belgian Pro League’s Champions’ playoffs. Brighton trail Bournemouth by two points and could yet qualify for the Champions League if Aston Villa win the Europa League and finish in the top five. Como are sixth and trail AC Milan and Roma by two points each but have already secured European football for the first time in the club’s history.

Despite these remarkable results, Hearts winning the title, rather than just being the cherry on the top, would take the cake.

The eccentric owner Vladimir Romanov nearly guiding Hearts to jubilation before snatching it all away by sacking manager George Burley in 2005, or the Jambos having to come back from the brink of going under with a debt of £25m before being saved by the fans more recently in 2013 would have softened even the stonyhearted, and it would take an especially cold heart to not be backing the Jambos on Saturday.

Even a Hearts loss would do wonders for Scottish football, adding to the myth and legend, ala how the Liverpool versus Arsenal final day fixture of 1989, where the Gunners needed to win by two clear goals, has done so for English football. In a striking coincidence, Hearts have had an identical scenario, and result, in their history, when they lost 2-0 to Kilmarnock in 1965, while Rangers overcame a similar narrative in 1991, beating Aberdeen by two goals.

Hearts in a parallel world, instead of Aberdeen in 1985, would have been the last side outside the Glasgow giants to win the title in 1986. The Jambos played Dundee needing just a draw to win the title, but it so transpired that they lost 2-0 to end a 27-game unbeaten run, having needed to hold on for only eight more minutes to secure the crucial point. Celtic duly took advantage and beat St Mirren 5-0 to be crowned champions on goal difference, with theirs being three better than that of Hearts.

They have an opportunity to set that right, correcting the wrongs of the past and of the present, at Celtic Park on Saturday. With Hibernian having secured a £6m investment from Bournemouth owner Bill Foley in 2024, this could become the season in which Celtic and Rangers did not falter, but one in which Scottish football rose.

Predicted Lineups

Recent Form (league)

Celtic: WWWWW Hearts: WDWWW

Key Men

Celtic

Daizen Maeda has hit form, and he might be required to recreate his magic from the Rangers game to break down a resolute Hearts side. Maeda is also the player who won the most points, 16, for his side with his goals, and the forward is crucial if Celtic were to take three more against the Jambos.

Kelechi Iheanacho has been impactful off the bench since his recovery from injury, and has now won Celtic eight points this season with match-winning goals as a substitute. Iheanacho’s nerveless penalty has given Celtic a realistic chance of the title going into the final day and he will want to make a telling contribution on the final day in what might be his final appearance in the green and white hoops.

Martin O’Neill’s experience could make the difference, having already won it three times with the Bhoys. O’Neill’s demeanour on the touchlines could be vital in conducting the fans, and transmitting to the players, on what tempo to maintain to keep putting relentless pressure on Hearts.

Hearts

Claudio Braga, signed from the Norwegian second division, is the poster boy for the analytics team. Braga will want to join his strike partner Lawrence Shankland on 15 goals for the season in what would be a fitting tribute to end a title-winning season.

Shankland will look to surpass Benjamin Nygren and Tawanda Maswanhise on the scorer’s chart, with the captain recognising that every goal will only make Celtic’s task harder by the minute.

Derek McInnes, hailed as the spiritual heir to Sir Alex Ferguson, could follow his mentor in dismantling the Glasgow duo. If McInnes plays it right, he could have a similar impact on the opposition as what the legendary manager achieved.

Match Prediction

Fans at Celtic Park will look to bring the roof down with their side having the chance to scoop up a 56th title.

The Hearts side might feel daunted by the atmosphere at Parkhead, which can make them feel like the rest of the world is against them, but it would help if they keep reminding themselves that many in the rest of Scotland, barring those of the Hibernian persuasion, are with them.

Celtic are on a winning run since March, but Hearts are no slouches either, being undefeated since the same month.

If Hearts can manage to stave off the early pressure, they might create openings on the counter for themselves as Celtic become increasingly desperate for the goal, with a draw doing their cause no good.

With four of the top five goal scorers in the league set to feature, it is difficult to foresee a stalemate. The same four players are also those who have won the most points for their sides with their goals, as it promises it to be a topsy-turvy affair, with the sides going punch for punch.

Celtic have undoubted quality and experience, with home advantage also a massive factor, but they have regularly, and worryingly for Bhoys fans, given up goalscoring opportunities to opposing teams. It is hard to think they will not continue the trend against Hearts and so, even though Celtic will surely score, he visitors can do so as well.

Inside Futbol Score Prediction

Where To Watch?

Celtic vs Hearts will be shown live in the UK on Sky Sports Main Event, Sky Sports Football and Sky Sports Ultra HDR with a kick-off at 12:30 UK time.