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Celtic are understandably red-hot favourites to beat Hearts on Saturday but manager Brendan Rodgers knows that his team will have to fight hard for the three points.
Celtic are in excellent form after picking up five wins from five matches at the start of the season, in contrast to Hearts’ woeful form in all competitions.
However, Steven Naismith’s side beat the Bhoys on two occasions last term, including at Celtic Park, so there’s no room to take anything for granted this afternoon.
Rodgers has no injury or fitness problems heading into this one with Alistair Johnston and Cameron Carter-Vickers both given the all-clear despite recent issues.
However, with a Champions League test looming on Wednesday night, there are potential thoughts of protecting some for that big encounter.
Potential Celtic team vs Hearts
Kasper Schmeichel is a certainty to start in goal. He’s conceded just a single goal all season and continued his clean sheet trend with Denmark on international duty.
Despite the presence of Auston Trusty, the defensive partnership of Cameron Carter-Vickers and Liam Scales is set to continue, aided by Greg Taylor on the left flank.
With Alistair Johnston’s game time needing to be managed after a long summer and a hamstring tweak on Canada duty, it would make sense to bring Anthony Ralston in for this one after building his match readiness with Scotland.
The Arne Engels call
In midfield, many will think it harsh to drop Paulo Bernardo after his derby display against Rangers but today’s fixture looks a prime opportunity to give record signing Arne Engels his first Celtic start.
Dropping the Belgian directly into the Champions League isn’t ideal and, in my mind, Engels starts today with Bernardo in the eleven on Wednesday night.
Callum McGregor and Reo Hatate will be the driving force in those central areas and both have looked excellent in the early stages of the campaign.
In attack, there’s no reason to change up anything. Daizen Maeda, Kyogo Furuhashi and Nicolas Kuhn all have the quality to punish Hearts with plenty of talent on the bench to secure a result if needed.
Adam Idah is available to add a different physical threat while we could see new Bhoy Alex Valle give Greg Taylor a rest on the left flank.
Your Predicted XI in full is: Schmeichel, Ralston, Carter-Vickers, Scales, Taylor, McGregor, Engels, Hatate, Kuhn, Maeda, Kyogo.
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