Celtic v Hearts
Saturday, 15:00
Live on BBC1 Scotland and Betfair Live Video
Glasgow v Edinburgh
Celtic and Hearts meet for the sixth time this season when contesting the Scottish Cup final on at Hampden on Saturday. The stands of the national stadium will be packed as those loyal to Neil Lennon’s side target a historic treble-treble, completing a clean-sweep of Scottish football for the third time in three years.
All that stands between the Glaswegians and a place in the record books is a plucky Hearts side who downed tools in the Premiership following the split, focusing their attention solely on spoiling the party. The Jambos go in as underdogs, but this is a competition littered with famous upsets and Hearts are no strangers to delivering a body blow to the Old Firm at this venue.
Lennon wants the job
Celtic got their hands on an eighth Scottish top-flight title in-a-row when finishing nine points ahead of Steven Gerrard’s Rangers. The champions didn’t enjoy a smooth run to the trophy, losing five times – including a couple of defeats to Rangers at Ibrox – and manager Brendan Rodgers leaving for Leicester City at a vital point of the season.
Former player and manager Lennon took the reins until the end of the season and the Northern Irishman knows his chances of getting the job full-time could rest on the outcome of this match. Complete the treble-treble and it would be difficult to overlook Lenny, that’s for sure.
The Bhoys were last seen rounding off their season with a 2-1 win over Hearts at Celtic Park last Sunday, the three points achieved thanks to double from Mikey Johnston. That did the 20-year-old’s chances of being involved on Saturday no harm whatsoever. Hearts remained competitive against a much-changed Celtic side through a Jake Mulraney goal and that will ensure they get the respect they deserve in the build-up to the final.
Jambos travel with confidence
Hearts may have lost on Sunday, but they recorded a memorable win over Celtic at Tynecastle back in the summer of last year and that will fill the squad with confidence as they embark on the trip to Glasgow. The Jambos have won this trophy eight times in the past, making them the tournament’s fourth most successful club behind Celtic’s 38, the 33 of Rangers and 10 of Queens Park. Despite that success, they haven’t kissed the famous old silver since 2012 when hammering Hibs 5-1. A day that’ll live long in the memory of fans.
Celtic dominate Hearts in the Scottish Cup head-to-head records with 19 wins against seven and five draws, but the capital city firm did win 2-1 when the sides last met at Hampden in this tournament. Rudi Skacel and Craig Beattie scored that day to cancel out a Gary Hooper reply and those wearing maroon in the stands will believe there’s no reason their club can’t go and do the same again this weekend. Hearts have nothing to lose, all the pressure being on Celtic to complete the treble, meaning they can play without fear.
Difficult to bet against Celtic
Despite this being a straight shoot-out for the trophy with league form and reputation left at the door, Betfair traders have had no trouble pinning Celtic as firm favourite for the win. The 90-minute betting has the defending champions as 1/3 jolly and that’s sure to be popular in weekend accumulators. A convincing stance, but one that’s difficult to argue against.
Hearts line-up for this match having lost each of their last three Premiership outings and that goes some way to explaining why lovers of an upset will find a chunky 15/2 on the Sportsbook. Too harsh on a finalist who hammered Inverness 3-0 in the semis? Perhaps. Value hunters will have a nibble at the underdogs, believing that quote to be on the generous side. The draw is 15/4.
Trends give a big price
Flicking through the results of matches involving these sides this season and we note each of the last four have produced over 2.5 goals, with Celtic winning on each occasion. The Bhoys strolled to a 3-0 win at Murrayfield in the League Cup in October and followed that with a 5-0 thrashing at Parkhead less than a week later. Saturday’s match to produce more than 2.5 goals is worth a bet at 8/11, which makes more appeal than the 11/10 about under 2.5, both quotes taken from the Sportsbook.
Interestingly, both teams have scored in each of the last two meetings of Celtic and Hearts, The Hoops winning by a 2-1 scoreline on each occasion. Take both teams to score again at even money or aim higher and back Celtic 2-1 in the correct score market at an enticing 13/2.
Source: BetFair Tips
