Celtic are purring and will be brimming with confidence as they come into Saturday’s game top of the league on goal difference, and fresh off a 3-0 win over their arch-rivals Rangers.
Goals from Daizen Maeda, Kyogo Furuhashi and Callum McGregor sealed what was a commanding victory for the Hoops, and Brendan Rodgers‘s side are once again proving to be a cut above the rest in Scotland’s top flight.
So far in all competitions this season, Celtic have won five games out of five with 15 goals scored and just one conceded.
The Hoops also boast the highest xG (1.99) and the lowest xGA (0.75) from their four league games, as they look to make it four Scottish Premiership titles in a row and a remarkable 14 out of the last 15 seasons.
Having sold Matt O’Riley to Brighton and Hove Albion over the summer, midfield reinforcements Arne Engels from FC Augsburg, Luke McCowan from Dundee and Paulo Bernardo from Benfica have certainly lessened the blow with how well they have settled in this season.
With a favourable Champions League draw and a Scottish League Cup quarter-final against Falkirk to look forward to later this month, there is plenty of reason for optimism for the Glasgow outfit.
Their most recent game was a 1-0 home defeat against Dundee United at the beginning of September, when Ross Graham‘s late strike was enough for the away side to take all three points from Tynecastle.
Steven Naismith‘s side also crashed out of the play-off stage of the Europa League, as they lost 2-0 on aggregate to Czech outfit Viktoria Plzen.
As a result of their domestic and European form, The Jam Tarts are now winless in seven games and were also dumped out of the League Cup by Scottish Championship side Falkirk.
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This poor start to the season is a huge surprise given the fact that Hearts finished third last season with 20 wins from their 38 games, which included two 2-0 triumphs over Celtic.
The 2-0 victory at Celtic Park was particularly impressive, as goals from Lawrence Shankland and Stephen Kingsley gave Hearts their first win at Celtic in 14 years, but on current form it appears that they will need a small miracle to even come away with a point on Saturday.
