Clean-sheet run to continue for the Bhoys
The 2018-19 Scottish Cup Final takes place on Saturday as underdogs Hearts take on Scottish champions Celtic. Is there a chance of an upset? Here is our preview:
How they got here
Celtic have blitzed their way to the Scottish Cup Final and you can’t help but admire how they have gone about it, not conceding a single goal in the competition so far.
They beat Airdrieonians 3-0 in the first round before taking on St Johnston and smashing five past them with the hugely impressive Scott Sinclair bagging a hat-trick.
In the next round, they faced a tough match against Hibernian but, again, they progressed thanks to second-half strikes from James Forrest and Scott Brown while bossing the game with 67% of the possession.
Their semi-final went the way of the others with a comfortable 3-0 against Aberdeen. The Bhoys had strolled through to the final and never looked in danger.
Hearts have also been excellent in the cup but have had a far easier run to the final than Celtic dispatching Livingston, Auchinleck Talbot, Partick Thistle and Inverness.
They now face a stern test at Hampden Park this weekend.
The form guide
The saying goes that form goes out the window in a cup final but it is hard not to glance at how the team have been performing coming into such an important game.
Hearts fans will be concerned as their side are on a terrible run where they have really struggled to win games. In fact, Craig Levein’s men have only won two of their last fourteen games and just three since the start of February.
Celtic, with the exception of last week’s 2-0 defeat to Rangers, have been fantastic winning 14 of the last 18 matches and only lost once in that run.
It is, therefore, really hard to find any evidence that this game will provide an upset but that is the beauty of cup football.
Key players
Celtic winning the Scottish Premier League came as no surprise but they have had several players performing at a consistently high level throughout the campaign.
The two players that stand out the most are James Forrest who has created a team his 33 chances in the league and Scott Sinclair who is always a threat.
Hearts will be with Olly Lee so will be hoping Steven Naismith can continue his league form where he has netted 10 times and created 20 chances across the season. John Souttar has been impressive in defence but he will need to be at his best if his side are to take home the trophy.
Celtic v Hearts betting tip
As much as we all love an upset it is hard to see Celtic falter, after all they have not conceded a single goal in the cup this season. With that in mind backing Celtic to win to nil at odds of 11/10 deserves your attention.
