Celtic have another opportunity to take a step closer to lifting the Premiership title this afternoon as the Hoops welcome Hearts to Parkhead for their latest league outing.
The previous league meeting between the two sides back in January saw Ange Postecoglou’s side pick up all three points with a 2-1 victory.
Goals from Reo Hatate and Giorgos Giakoumakis put the away side 2-0 up with 35 minutes on the clock before Liam Boyce pulled a goal back for his team in the second half. Hearts had the chance to equalise in the 73rd minute but Boyce ended up missing a penalty, much to the delight of Celtic.
Heading into today’s showdown, the Hoops will undeniably be looking for a win after failing to beat Rangers last weekend.
On the chalkboard
One man who started in the 1-1 draw last Sunday butt should not be in the team on this occasion is attacker Kyogo Furuhashi.
Celtic signed the centre-forward during the previous summer transfer window from Vissel Kobe in a deal worth a reported £5m. Since then, the £52.5k-per-week attacker has scored 17 goals in 30 games for the Bhoys across all competitions.
Despite his knack for finding the net since his arrival in Scotland, his previous performance may have jeopardised his place in today’s starting XI.
With 61 minutes under his belt against Rangers last time out, the striker failed to have much of an impact and arguably cost his side the chance to stretch the points gap between the two Glasgow clubs.
During his time on the pitch before being replaced by Giakoumakis, the 27-year-old had just 15 touches of the ball and could only complete five of the 10 passes he attempted. He also ended up giving the ball away six times, committing four fouls and losing four of the six duels in which he was involved, as per Sofascore.
Described as being an “absolute nightmare” to play against in training by team-mate Stephen Welsh, this is the opposite of what he was for the Rangers defence last weekend.
With that in mind, it could be Postecoglou’s best option to not start Furuhashi on this occasion and keep him as an impact substitute instead.
In other news: Enquiry made, then joined rivals: Celtic had the last laugh over “huge” 161 G/A dynamo
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