Homecoming Hoops Host Hibees
~~~~~~~~~~ Official TC Match Preview ~~~~~~~~~~


The SPFA Player of the Year Daizen Maeda has scored 4 times against Hibs this season


Celtic Park, Glasgow
Saturday, 10 May 2025
15.00 BST

The recently crowned Champions return home for the first time since clinching the Premiership title, and face a real test against 3rd placed Hibernian, tomorrow.

There is sure to be a raucous reception for the Bhoys, having secured a 4th straight League crown, and they will want to mark the occasion with another good display, against a Hibs side that continues to be the most in-form team in all of Scottish Football for months now.

Celtic are coming into this game on the back of a 1-1 draw in the Glasgow derby last weekend, where they once again struggled to find anything like their best in that fixture, and will know that the expectation will be on them to return to winning ways this weekend against a very tough and confident Easter Road opponant.

Brendan Rodgers has vowed that there will be no let up over these last few remaining weeks of the season with the squad competing for places with the Scottish Cup Final yet to be contested and another potential treble there to be won.


Adam Idah scores the equalizer for Celtic in last weekend's Glasgow derby that finished 1-1.

The Edinburgh club have had a remarkable turnaround in their teams fortunes since late November, and in fact have gone on a very impressive run of just 1 defeat in the past 19 Premiership games since the beginning of December.

So consistent have the Hibees been during this run, that they have picked up 44 points in 19 games (W13 D5 L1) during that period, compared to Celtic's 42 points from 20, having played a game extra (W13 D3 L4).

The visitors were able to successfully bounce back after their stumble in Pittodrie, with a 3-1 victory over Dundee United, which as seen them open up a 3 point gap over their nearest competition and well placed in pole position in the race for 3rd, and the prize of guarenteed Group Stage football in European action for next season.

That all said, this will be the 6th time overall this season that these two sides will have clashed this season, including in both Cup competitions, with the Celts having won 4 of those previous encounters, and rhe Hibees once.

History is on Celtic's side here, both in more modern times and overall, with the Hoops undefeated by Hibs at home since 2010, and the Celts have not lost back to back league encounters between these sides in the same season since 1950/51, highlighting the difficulty of the challenge facing David Gray's team. But none of that will matter come kick off, when two in form teams go into battle.​

Cameron Carter-Vickers tussles with Hibs' Josh Campbell earlier this season

Stats & Facts​

• The Hoops are undefeated against Hibernian at Parkhead since January 2010 (W17 D4).

• The Bhoys have scored at least 3 times in a game 29 times across all competitions this season.

• Celtic are undefeated in the League when they have scored first (W26 D2), but have won just once after conceding first (W1 D1 L4).

• It has been 74 years since Celtic last lost back to back league clashes to the Hibees during the same season, since 1950/51.

• The Leith side have lost just once in the Premiership since early December and have picked up more points (44, P19 W13 D5 L1) than any other team, including the Hoops (42, P20 W13 D3 L4), over that period.

Alistair Johnston and Nicholas Kuhn could both be set to return having missed last weekend

Team News

Brendan Rodgers has a couple of fitness concerns in his squad, but it is expected that Nicholas Kuhn will be back in contention for this weekend, however Alistair Johnston is still recieving pain killing injections in his hip and is likely to be rested once more.

The pair have at times proven a devastating attacking partnership down the right flank and the manager will be keen to have that back for the last few weeks of the campaign.

In other news, Kasper Schmeichel (shoulder) is closing in on completing his recovery before the end of this season, however is not expected to be available this week, and Jota (ACL) is unlikely to feature again until the end of the year at the very earliest.

The manager could use the next couple of games to give a few fringe players a chance to impress.​

As for the visitors, Joe Newell (groin) and Thody Elle Youan (foot) are both likely to miss this match, and Nicky Cadden's fitness is also a doubt after his recent hamstring troubles, while Hyeok-Kyu Kwon, currently contending with an ankle problem, would have been required to sit out regardless, as he cannot play against his parent club.

Referee: Colin Steven

Since his Premiership debut in 2019, Steven has taken charge of 55 top flight matches, including 3 previous games involving the Hoops - all of which Celtic have won, with the most recent being the 6-0 victory over Dundee, back in February.

Celtic Overall Record
M:3 W:3 D:0 L:0

VAR: Kevin Clancy

Weather

The forecast is for glorious sunny conditions with a moderate breeze and temperatures hovering around the 20ºC mark.


~~~~ Head to Head ~~~~

Overall
P:326 W:188 D:82 L:56​

Last 5 Meetings
W L W W W

~~~~ 2024/25 Form ~~~~

All Comps
D W W W L ~ W L W W W

SPFL
D W W L W ~ W L W W W​