Celtic return to Scottish Premiership action after their Premier Sports Cup success, with the Hoops facing Hearts on Saturday afternoon.
Goals from Kyogo Furuhashi, Reo Hatate and a Liel Abada brace handed Celtic a 4-0 win over Motherwell in the cup on Wednesday night, sending the Hoops to the semi-finals at Hampden Park. Ange Postecoglou's side will face Kilmarnock in the semis, but attention now turns back to the Scottish Premiership with a clash against Hearts awaiting.
Celtic currently sit two points clear of Rangers at the top of the league, with Saturday's opposition down in seventh. The Hoops have won their last five meeting against Hearts - the most recent a 2-0 win back in August.
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David Turnbull and and Jota are set to miss the clash against Hearts, whilst Callum McGregor and Carl Starfelt will join the duo on the sidelines. So, could Celtic remain top of the league on Saturday?
We used FIFA 23 to try and predict the score, and this is what happened!
Hearts vs Celtic score predicted by simulation
We predict that the hosts could set up in a 3-4-1-2 formation, with their line-up as follows: Gordon; Neilson, Sibbick, Kingsley; Forrest, Kiomourtzoglou, Snodgrass, Cochrane; McKay; Humphrys, Shankland.
We predict that the Hoops could set up in a 4-2-3-1 formation, with their line-up as follows: Hart; Juranovic, Carter-Vickers, Jenz, Taylor; O'Riley, Hatate; Forrest, Haksabanovic, Abada; Furuhashi.
Both sides started the game well, with chances coming at either end of the pitch. As the game went on, Celtic started to gain more control, and they took the lead after 36 minutes through Furuhashi.
After a patient passing move in midfield, Celtic looked for a way into the Hearts box, and they found it through a bit of magic from Sead Haksabanovic. The midfielder slipped past two players before threading a pass through to Furuhashi on the shoulder of the defender, and the striker blasted his effort into the top corner to put the Hoops ahead.
Hearts threatened on occasions towards the end of the first half, but some good goalkeeping from Joe Hart saw the 'keeper make some good saves to deny the hosts. Celtic continued to push for another goal in the second half, but they couldn't find a way through.
The best chance of the half came when Abada picked up possession on the edge of the Hearts box and attempted to curl an effort into the top corner, but Craig Godron was quick across his line to parry the effort wide. Some big chances were wasted in the final few moments of the game by James Forrest and Furuhashi, but the visitors were able to leave with three points.
FIFA 23 predicted final score: Hearts 0-1 Celtic
Here are the full-time match stats.
FIFA 23 predicts that Kyogo Furuhashi's first-half strike could be all that separates the two sides on Saturday. Celtic dominated the attacking aspects of the game but were poor in front of goal, with the Hoops managing a huge 5 xG in the simulation.
What do you think the score will be between Celtic and Hearts on Saturday? Let us know in the comments!
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