Celtic make the trip to the capital this weekend as they aim to make it three wins out of three in the cinch Premiership.
Playing Hearts at Tynecastle is never an easy task but given their previous two results, Brendan Rodgers’ men will be rightly brimming with confidence heading into the match.
Performance levels have taken a turn for the better over the past few games. The second half at Fir Park encapsulated intensity and it was crucially carried into Wednesday’s thumping of Dundee.
Taking such momentum to Gorgie is of optimum importance and ahead of the showdown, we give you a predicted lineup.
Goalkeeper and Defence
Joe Hart will undoubtedly continue between the sticks.
The back four has begun to develop a sense of stability over the past few matches, and Rodgers will go with the same quartet – Alistair Johnston, Cameron Carter-Vickers, Liam Scales, and Greg Taylor – that started versus Dundee against Hearts.
Midfield
Tomoki Iwata will keep his place at the base of the midfield. The manager recently spoke of his trust for the 26-year-old, and how he brings utmost stability and dynamism to the engine room.
With Callum McGregor unlikely to feature, Paulo Bernardo will come into the team for his first start since the game at Easter Road a few weeks ago. Teenage sensation Daniel Kelly did replace the skipper at half-time midweek and score a screamer, but throwing him in at Tynecastle when someone like Bernardo is available seems nonsensical.
Matt O’Riley will complete the trio in the middle of the park.
Attack
Up top, Adam Idah will start for the second time in a row after bagging three crucial goals over the past week. On the right, Yang, who impressed against both Motherwell and Dundee, must continue.
On the opposite flank to the South Korean, Daizen Maeda will get the nod. The electric wide-man netted on Wednesday after a stupendous, quick turn.
Substitutes
Among the subs will be the usual names such as Oh, Anthony Ralston, Stephen Welsh, Nicolas Kuhn, and Luis Palma. Kelly will likely appear on the bench again and his fellow academy teammates – Rocco Vata and Mitchel Frame – trained with the first team in the lead-up to Hearts so could well feature.
Kick-off on Sunday is at noon, and the match is live on Sky Sports.
