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The National (Scotland)
The National (Scotland)
Sport
Ewan Paton

Three Celtic vs Inverness Caledonian Thistle key battles

Celtic will aim to lift their third trophy of the season later today as they take on Inverness Caledonian Thistle in the Scottish Cup final.

If they emerge victorious, it will be the fifth time Ange Postecoglou has lifted silverware during his two years in Scotland, with six trophies available in that time.

The Hoops are heavy favourites to land their eighth domestic treble, with a clear gulf between the champions and Caley Thistle, who also haven't played a Championship match since the beginning of May.

Here are three of the key battles to look out for during the game...

Jota vs Cameron Harper

It would be fair to say that the Caley Thistle left-back is going to be in for one of the toughest games of his life by going up against Jota in all likelihood.

The Portuguese winger has 13 goals and 14 assists to his name so far. He netted the winner in the semi-final clash against Rangers to send the Hoops through to the showpiece event.

It's no surprise that Portugal manager Roberto Martinez is closely watching the 24-year-old's progress. There's little doubt that he will be keeping one eye on the Scottish Cup final to see how Jota does.

More often than not, Jota has a defining say for Celtic on the big occasion, hence his fans' favourite tag.

Harper has come all the way through the ranks at Caley Thistle. He has turned out 117 times for his boyhood club. If he can manage to keep Jota as quiet as possible, he can be extremely proud of his work and will provide his team with a better chance of somehow prevailing from the game as winners.

Callum McGregor vs Sean Welsh

Both are tenacious in their work, it should be an interesting battle between the opponents.

Callum McGregor is clearly one of Celtic's best players and when he plays well, everything seems to tick for the champions.

He's on track to become the club's most decorated ever player if he continues picking up trophies at the rate he's at. There's not much more that can be said of McGregor that hasn't already been.

He is likely to be closely watched by Caley Thistle's Sean Welsh, who is also their captain. 

You'd have to imagine that he will try his absolute best to get in the face of the Scotland international, and try to stop him from conducting the proceedings from start to finish.

When Inverness gets on the ball, Welsh is likely to be the lynchpin in midfield too though, with most attacks starting off with him. He's composed on the ball, and that could be vital to the underdogs whenever they do have spells of possession.

Carl Starfelt vs Billy McKay

It seems very obvious to state, but if Inverness are to have any chance then they'll need their star striker to be firing. 

The Northern Irishman netted a double in the semi-final to beat Falkirk 3-0 at Hampden at the end of April.

If he gets any sniff of a chance this evening, he must be on hand to take it. Simple as that. 

Whether he's given much of a chance is another question, with Celtic's superior quality all over the park. 

But McKay will go up against Carl Starfelt, who is arguably up there among the best defenders in the country. Even against some of the Premiership's better sides, the Swede cruises it.

The odds are that Celtic will manage to keep a clean sheet. But if Dodd's men are to score, you'd probably back McKay to bag it.

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