Trophy Sunday - 19th Of May - 3:00PM KO - Live on Sky

Preview
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The final league match of the season is upon us with Celtic taking on Hearts at Parkhead this Sunday where we will see the Hoops lift the Premiership title for a 8th straight season. As always with Celtic it's been a long season domestically, with the Hoops also preparing to take on the same opposition in the Scottish Cup final on the 25th of this month as they look to complete the domestic treble.

Sticking with this weekends game though, we could see a much changed Celtic side take on Hearts with Neil Lennon confirming that 16 year old Karamoko Dembele might be in line to make his debut at some point while Ewan Henderson also looks set to play some role in the game, there are a number of other young players who will hope to play some part in the match including 16 year old winger Armstrong Oko-flex, Oko-flex has been very impressive this season in Celtic's reserve side and has also been on the bench previously this season. It could also be the last time we see a number of players in a Celtic shirt with Mika Lustig, Emilio Izaguirre and Doris De Vries all out of contract at the end of the season and loan players Oli Burke and Filip Benkovic preparing to rejoin their parent clubs, it could be a day to welcome & say our farewells to a number of players.

Hearts could also rest a number of key players ahead of the final with the Jambos finishing 6th regardless of the result, they could also look to give a number of young players some game time in preparation for next season, ex Rangers player Steven Naismith who has all but agreed to stay on at Hearts for next season will certainly miss the game, while young Harry Cochrane who played so well when Hearts beat Celtic 4-0 last season is likely to start. Hearts who set the pace for the first few weeks of the season have been extremely poor of late in the league and have only won 2 of their last 14 league games, it looks set to be another tough day for the Edinburgh side with Celtic out to lift the trophy in style and honour the two Lisbon Lion greats Billy McNeil and Stevie Chalmers who sadly passed away recently.

Paul McStay has also been announced as a special guest to help Celtic celebrate trophy day and it will be great to see the maestro back at Paradise

Recent Form

Celtic Last 5
Rangers (A) 2-0 L
Aberdeen (A) 0-3 W
Kilmarnock (H) 1-0 W
Hibernian (A) 0-0 D
Aberdeen (A) 0-3 W

Hearts Last 5
Aberdeen (A) 2-1 L
Kilmarnock (H) 0-1 L
Hibernian (A) 1-1 D
Rangers (A) 1-3 L
Inverness (N) 3-0 W

Recent H2H
27/02/19 Hearts 1-2 Celtic
03/11/18 Celtic 5-0 Hearts
28/10/18 Hearts 0-3 Celtic
11/08/18 Hearts 1-0 Celtic
06/05/18 Hearts 1-3 Celtic
30/01/18 Celtic 3-1 Hearts
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Predictions
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After last years disappointing loss to Aberdeen on trophy day, it would be nice to see the Hoops bow out in style in what could be Neil Lennon's last domestic league game in charge of Celtic, there is also the emotional aspect of honouring and playing for Billy McNeil & Stevie Chalmers who will be watching down from above. Celtic will surly look to rest a number of key players for the Scottish Final while also giving a number of young/fringe players a chance to play their way into Neil Lennon's plans for the Final.

I am hoping for a similar game to Ronny Deila's last match in charge where we demolished Motherwell 7-0 and saw young Jack Aitchison grab a goal on his debut. Celtic should look to bow out the league season in style by going straight for the neck early on with fast attacking football, it would be great to see young players like Dembele and Henderson really go out and play with no fear and help the Bhoys put on a show.

I don't think Hearts will cause us to much of a threat on the day, while we should not think that they will turn up just to be battered while we celebrate winning the title they will have one eye on the cup final and wont want any injuries or suspensions going into that match, that said a win against the Champions before they play us again would boost morale and the Edinburgh have been lacking that of late following a number of extremely poor performances and results.

At the moment it's supposed to be Sunny in Glasgow on Sunday and hopefully the sun shines down upon our lads and we run out high scoring winners, personally I predict a comfy Celtic win and hopefully a few debut performances from young lads as well, I also hope Neil Lennon is given a fantastic send off in what could be his last home game in charge for some time, he has helped get us over the line this season and it would be good to see hm get a brilliant reception/send off.

4-1 Celtic!

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