Scottish league champions Celtic look to increase their unbeaten domestic run to 58 matches as they play host to Hibernian in the Scottish Premiership. Hibernian have made a solid start to life back in the top flight of Scottish football, currently sitting in fourth position after seven games.
Scottish Premiership – Celtic Park, Glasgow 30th September – 15:00 UK Time
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Draw Best Odd of: 19/4 at Ladbrokes |
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Celtic
HibernianCeltic
Celtic haven’t lost a domestic match since a 2-1 defeat to St Johnstone in May 2016. That’s an unbeaten run which was increased to 57 matches with a 2-0 win at Rangers last weekend.
This season, they have won six of their seven league games and have kept four clean sheets during that time.
They sit in their familiar position atop the Scottish league table, two points above Aberdeen and with a far superior goal difference.
A 3-0 Champions League victory away at Anderlecht in midweek will have boosted confidence even more, and it would take a brave person to bet against Celtic adding another match to their unbeaten run.
Hibernian
Despite that relatively lofty position, a 1-0 victory at Ross County last weekend ended a run of four matches without a win. However, only one of those was a defeat.
Currently unbeaten in four, with one win and three draws, Hibs are pulling themselves clear of the drop zone at this early stage of the season and are exceeding expectations.
Manager Neil Lennon returns to former club Celtic knowing his side are up against it but also sure his players will be giving everything in a match in which they have nothing to lose.
Head to Head
These sides have met 71 times since September 1994, with Celtic winning 46 of those. Hibernian have won just eight, and seventeen have finished level.
Celtic have won four of the last five, keeping clean sheets in all of those victories. The most recent was a 4-0 league victory in January 2014.
Hibernian last picked up a win over Celtic in December 2012, winning 1-0 at home thanks to a goal from current Celtic striker Leigh Griffiths.
As the away side, Hibs are on a run of seven without a victory. Their last win away at Celtic came in January 2010.
Betting Odds and Predictions
Celtic are the obvious favourites to win this match, with hardly anyone backing Hibernian to pull off what would be a massive upset.
Ladbrokes have the champions priced at 1/4, with the away side a less than generous 10/1. The draw is priced at 19/4, which is also pretty poor odds considering the gulf between the two sides.
Hibs have conceded at least one goal in all but one of their league matches this season, while Celtic have scored eighteen in their seven games. This shows there’s a high chance of Celtic scoring, and possibly netting several times.
Celtic Over 1.5 Goals is priced at 1/3, with the champions netting Over 2.5 at odds of 1/1.
Obviously, if there’s a big possibility of goals being scored, we must look at potential scorers.
Former Hibs striker Leigh Griffiths netted his 200th career goal in midweek and will be keen to add to his tally. He has netted seven times in all competition this season and is priced at 8/13 to score anytime here.
Moussa Dembele marked his return from injury with a goal against Ross County a couple of weeks ago and is a solid option to find the net here, priced at 4/6.
Scott Sinclair and Tom Rogic provide the value options in the anytime scorer market. Sinclair netted his tenth goal in all competition at Anderlecht in midweek and is priced at 6/5, while Rogic has scored in the last two league games and is at odds of 19/10.
Celtic have kept four clean sheets in the league this season, and have prevented Hibs scoring in four of the last five meetings. Therefore, Celtic to win to nil looks a good bet at 23/20.
Top Betting Tip
Our top betting tip for this match is Celtic to score Over 1.5 Goals, priced at 1/3 with Ladbrokes.