Hearts vs Celtic Prediction & Betting Tips

Celtic travel to Tynecastle to take on Hearts in a bid to keep within touching distance of Rangers at the top of the Scottish Premiership.

Date: 03/03/24

Kick-off time: 12:00

Venue: Tynecastle Park

Third meets second as Hearts host Celtic in the SPL. The hosts are 16 points behind their opponents, but are 12 ahead of Kilmarnock in fourth. A recent eight-game winning streak was snapped by leaders Rangers, as they were thrashed 5-0 at Ibrox before drawing 1-1 in the Edinburgh derby with Hibernian. With them comfortably in third, they are unlikely to move up or down in the table come the end of the campaign. They will be motivated to pick up a win this weekend, though, as they look to bounce back from two disappointing results.

The Hoops are hoping to win their third title in a row and 10th in 11 seasons. However, they have a tough battle on their hands as they compete with their Old Firm rivals Rangers for top spot. The league leaders have won nine games in a row which has left them two points clear. A lot can change before the pair meet again at the beginning of April, so Celtic will hope that a win against a good Hearts team can give them some much-needed momentum.

Steven Naismith’s side may find it difficult to keep the visitors out. Celtic have scored 68 goals this season, the most in the division and 32 more than their opponents. They have shared the goals well with Matt O’Riley and Kyogo Furuhashi leading the way with 11. New signing Adam Idah has scored five goals since his January arrival. Hearts have a huge scoring threat of their own, as forward Lawrence Shankland leads the league in goals scored with 19, which is six more than the next highest. As a result, this game should be competitive.

In the last six meetings between these two sides, Celtic have absolutely dominated winning five and losing one. In fact, their success over their opponents stretches back even further, with 10 wins in the last 11. Despite this, Hearts did win the reverse fixture earlier this season, as they were 2-0 victors at Celtic Park, inflicting just the second defeat of the season on their hosts. Shankland and Stephen Kingsley’s first-half goals were enough to take all three points. Celtic have not tasted defeat in the league since.

They also met in the Scottish Cup last season, and as expected, the Hoops came out on top. It was a comfortable 3-0 victory with Aaron Mooy, Kyogo Furuhashi and Cameron Carter-Vickers on the scoresheet.

Hearts

Liam Boyce and Peter Haring are nursing hamstring and knee injuries respectively. Both are hoping for returns soon, though this weekend may be too close for the pair.

Celtic

Cameron Carter-Vickers has been out for three weeks through injury but returned last weekend with an appearance off the bench. Brendan Rodgers has no new injury concerns so should have a full squad to choose from.

Hearts

In their last six games, Hearts won have won four, drawn one and lost one. Their most recent outing saw them heavily lose 5-0 at Rangers, which snapped an eight-game winning streak in all competitions. After going a goal down just two minutes in, they could not recover. They were 3-0 down at half-time before a further two strikes were added following the restart.

Until this loss, they had been enjoying a fine run of form, with this stretch of games beginning with a 3-2 win at Dundee. The hosts took the lead twice, as Hearts came from behind both times before finally taking the lead in the 87th minute through Lawrence Shankland, who bagged his second of the game. This preceded another narrow victory, this time away at St Johnstone. The 1-0 win came courtesy of another Shankland goal in the second half.

Lower league opposition were the hosts in the fifth round of the Scottish Cup as the Jam Tarts travelled to face Airdrieonians. They booked their place in the next round with a 4-1 win. Shankland scored a brace, whilst Kenneth Vargas and Calem Nieuwenhof were also on the scoresheet. They returned to league action with a 2-0 victory at home to Motherwell, before their latest defeat to Rangers. Shankland scored his sixth goal of this stretch in this game.

On Wednesday, Hearts salvaged a 1-1 home draw with Hibernian in the Edinburgh derby at Tynecastle. Top scorer Shankland scored his 26th goal across all competitions from the penalty spot in first-half stoppage time after Bournemouth loanee Emiliano Marcondes had given the Jam Tarts a 28th-minute lead. The former Dundee United striker's goal denied Hibs their first away win at Tynecastle since 2019.

Celtic

In their last five games, Celtic have won three and drawn two. Recent results has seen them fall behind in the title race. The first game in this stretch came away at Aberdeen, which ended in a 1-1 draw. The hosts took the lead through Bojan Miovski, but Nicolas-Gerrit Kuhn soon got Celtic back on level terms.

They responded well to this disappointing draw by picking up three points at Hibernian. Two penalties secured a 2-1 win in dramatic fashion, with the winner coming in the 92nd minute. Both converted by Adam Idah, the striker put his side in front before they were pegged back in the second half. Then he stepped up once again to secure the win.

The quarter-finals of the Scottish Cup awaits for the Hoops, following a 2-0 victory at St Mirren. Kyogo Furuhashi and Daizen Maeda scored either side of half-time to ensure their progression. They returned to league action with more dropped points at home to Kilmarnock. They were well on their way to victory after Furuhashi opened the scoring early on, but a stoppage-time equaliser from David Watson meant the points were shared. Their most recent game was a trip to Motherwell at the weekend, and they picked up a much-needed three points with a 3-1 result to keep pace at the top. However, it took two late goals to win it. They fell behind just before the break but equalised through Idah just after the restart. He then scored a 94th-minute winner before Luis Palma added the finishing touches with a third two minutes later.

On Wednesday night, Celtic managed a morale-boosting 7-1 win at home to Dundee. Impressively, there were seven different goalscorers during this match, with Cameron Carter-Vickers, Adam Idah, Matt O'Riley, Daizen Maeda, Greg Taylor, Callum McGregor and Daniel Kelly all getting on the scoresheet, while Burnley loanee Michael Mellon scored a consolation goal for the visitors with six minutes to go.

Hearts enjoyed a great run of form until they came up against Rangers. They will make it a lot tougher this weekend than they did last, but Celtic will just edge it - Hearts 1-2 Celtic

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Hearts vs Celtic will be available to watch on Sky Sports Main Event.

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