Celtic’s near-perfect run after the winter break continued as they dismantled Motherwell by four goals to one in a heated encounter. The Hoops have a comfortable 8 point lead on top of the table, and there seems to be no stopping them towards their 8th consecutive Premiership title.
Next, the Bhoys travel to the Tynecastle Stadium to take on Hearts of Midlothian. The Jambos have fizzled out after they led the table for a brief period in the first half of the season. Last time the two teams squared up against each other, the Hoops ran out 5-0 winners. Given their current form, one wouldn’t put it beyond them to produce a similar result in this midweek clash.
Team News
The return of Kieran Tierney is a significant boost for Rodgers. Scott Brown should be back after serving his suspension. Anthony Ralston, Filip Benkovic, Eboue Kouassi and Danel Arzani are going to miss out due to injuries. Olivier Ntcham is struggling with fitness, and he could be out of this upcoming clash as well. Leigh Griffith is unlikely to feature this season after he decided to take some time off football.
Celtic Predicted Lineup Vs Hearts
Formation (4-2-3-1)
Defence
Scott Bain has firmly established himself as the no. 1 in goal, and he is set to continue in between the sticks once again. Jozo Simunovic could be back in this tie in place of Kristoffer Ajer. Dedryck Boyata is going to be his likely partner in defence.
Kieran Tierney came off early in the last game, and that shows that Rodgers is slowly trying to ease him into the eleven. We expect him to start once again in the left back spot. Jeremy Toljan has been preferred over Mikael Lustig, and the German should start in the right-back position to complete the back four.
Midfield
Ewen Henderson made a fantastic debut, but given the quality of the opponents, we expect Rodgers to bring back the experienced duo of Callum McGregor and Scott Brown in midfield. The latter is going to be in a more conservative role whereas McGregor’s job would be to move the ball forward and open up the opposition defence.
Ryan Christie is expected to start in the no. 10 role. Scott Sinclair has been scoring goals for fun of late, and he is going to operate from the left once again. James Forrest should be the preferred right winger.
Attack
Oliver Burke has been impressive, but Odsonne Edouard has been finding his feet after the injury layoff. Celtic’s record signing should lead the line once again.
