Another mouth-watering weekend of Scottish Premiership is upon us and the stand-out fixture is undoubtedly Celtic’s trip to Hibernian on Sunday.
It’s the Hoops’ first match at Easter Road for close to four years and after a toe-to-toe battle at Celtic Park in the last league encounter, all eyes are on whether Neil Lennon’s side can be the team to finally end Celtic’s incredible domestic unbeaten run.
That unbeaten streak is now 67 matches long and as it grows longer and longer, the more of a target it becomes for their opposition. Being the team to end it would be a fantastic boost to every team in the Scottish Premiership, and a scalp every manager would like to claim – especially the former Bhoys boss.
Brendan Rodgers’ side might find that Sunday’s match will be one of the toughest of the entire run so far. Here are THREE reasons why Hibs could even end it…
Hibs’ form since the last meeting is just as good as Celtic’s
Hibs’ return to the Scottish Premiership was always going to be difficult, it’s never easy making that step up and being the promoted side. However, their resources are still greater than most of the clubs in the division so there was an expectation they could challenge for a top six place. Neil Lennon is so far delivering on those ambitions, making his side very difficult to beat and in recent months stringing together an impressive series of results.
Since the last meeting between the two sides, in the Scottish League Cup semi-final, Hibs have actually kept pace with the form of the unbeaten Scottish Champions, proof they’ll fancy themselves as equals when the Hoops come calling on Sunday.
Neil Lennon’s side have won five of the seven matches since, losing one and drawing the other. It’s an exceptional record, especially when you consider four of the matches were away from home and they had an Edinburgh derby to contend with.
Celtic haven’t lost a game but have drawn twice in their six league matches since the semi-final. While still towering above the rest of the top-flight, things could get tricky when going against one of the other form sides in the league.
They were 10 minutes away from ending the run at Celtic Park
Celtic have definitely found life in the Scottish Premiership a little tougher this season compared to the heights of last term. That’s only natural and it’s actually remarkable that through some less than stellar performances they’ve managed to dig out goals that preserve the unbeaten record.
Hibs really ran the champions close in their last league meeting at Celtic Park when a John McGinn-inspired performance put them 2-1 up heading into the final stages of the match.
Celtic found their way back to parity thanks to a Callum McGregor equaliser but the match is a reminder that Neil Lennon knows how to go up against Brendan Rodgers’ side.
The Hoops came out 4-2 winners in the League Cup semi-final but that wasn’t completely out of sight for Hibs until the final few minutes of the game – some would argue they had the better of the second half that day.
Can they go one step beyond and pull of an upset on Sunday?
They have the second best defensive record in the Scottish Premiership
While Celtic’s defensive record is beyond anything mustered by the rest of the competition in the Scottish Premiership, Hibs are the best of the rest in that regard, conceding just 17 goals so far this term which is less than the likes of Rangers and Aberdeen.
They’ve also kept four clean sheets in their last seven matches, Neil Lennon always setting up his team to be hard to score against first and foremost.
When Celtic hit their stride, no team can contain them in domestic football, but in a battle against a confident team it could be a struggle to break down the organised Hibernian defence.
It’s all set to be an intriguing battle and by the end of play on Sunday, whatever the result, it no doubt be a keenly contested affair.