Premier Sports Cup Final Preview


At Hampden Park on Sunday afternoon, Celtic will take on Hibernian in the final of the Scottish League/Premier Sports Cup. It is undoubtedly the biggest game of both these clubs’ seasons so far and today, I’ll previewing what’s set to be a scintillating afternoon at the national stadium. 

We’ll start in the Celtic camp and the Hoops are just off the back of a ninety seventh minute winner in the Highlands on Wednesday evening. They booked their place at this stage of the competition by defeating St. Johnstone by a goal to nil in a closely fought encounter in the semi final. James Forrest was the hero that day however the winger is among a number of injury doubts for Ange Postecoglou’s side ahead of the weekend. 


The Australian himself has a colossal opportunity to win his first silverware as Celtic manager and give the Hoops a huge boost going into a crucial run of league fixtures ahead of the winter break. Postecoglou has not shied away from his attacking style of play and his approach against Hibs on Sunday will be no different, one would imagine. 


I’m sure if the likes of Jota and Kyogo were available for Celtic at the weekend, they would be much more confident going forward. After all, the duo have a combined thirty goal contributions in all competitions so far this season. In spite of their possible absences, Celtic still possess the likes of Tom Rogic, David Turnbull and Liel Abada who are all potential difference makers in attack. 


As well as the frontline being on top form, Celtic’s backline has certainly solidified this season although coming up against the likes of Martin Boyle and Kevin Nisbet will be a challenge, especially with the former proving to be so devastating against Rangers in Hibs’ semi final.  


If Celtic can harness their spirit from midweek it would go a huge way in helping them to triumph and should they do so, it would be the perfect way to mark the beginning of a new era in terms of both players and manager. In addition, it would be a huge catalyst for momentum going into four pivotal league matches before the winter break, including a Glasgow Derby. 


As for Hibs, it seems they are set to appoint Shaun Maloney as the permanent successor to Jack Ross in the dugout. The appointment of Maloney as new manager would be an extremely exciting and ambitious one from the Leith side. It will be enticing to see how his time at Easter Road progresses however our focus, at least in this article, is on the upcoming final. And for the final, it will be interim manager David Gray who remains in the dugout and the club legend has first hand experience of big occasions, scoring a last gasp winner to clinch the Scottish Cup in 2016 for his side. 


It is Hibs’ second consecutive final after they were put to the sword by double winners St. Johnstone in last season’s Scottish Cup final. Celtic will be hoping it is a repeat of that day for Hibs although I’m sure Martin Boyle and co will have other ideas. 


In terms of the team, there have been a few injury problems of late for Hibs. Both Chris Cadden and Kevin Nisbet were withdrawn early against Dundee on Tuesday evening after picking up knocks. However, the likes of Josh Campbell and Martin Boyle will surely start after the problems they caused Rangers in the semi final. As alluded to previously, Boyle netted a hat trick that day and the Australian was also involved for Hibs against Dundee midweek; his inviting cross met the head of Paul McMullan who unfortunately nodded into his own net. 


Hibs’ strengths firmly lie in attack and although they’ve conceded just seven goals in their last eight, their defence still looks unsteady when tested. 


In spite of this, the chance to send David Gray off on a high and win their first major trophy since 2016 could spur Hibs on to greatness on Sunday.  


All things considered, the 2021 League Cup final will be an engrossing one. Will it be Ange Postecoglou who rejoices his first major honour as Celtic boss or David Gray who reinstates his status as a Hibs legend? Either way, the green white half of either Glasgow or Edinburgh will be rapturous. My score prediction, I hear you ask? Hibernian 1-2 Celtic. 


Thank you for reading this article. If you have any thoughts or opinions, leave a comment below. Also, don’t forget to follow me on Twitter @Josh_Footblog where re-Tweets and likes are greatly appreciated to help me grow. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Celtic v Hearts: Five things we learned

Image
On a cold, December’s night in the East End of Glasgow, Celtic had to beat Hearts to almost stay in the SPFL title race. Ange Postecoglou’s men lived up to the challenge with Kyogo Furuhashi’s goal proving decisive. Let’s get into three things we learned from the match.   Celtic’s squad depth is continually being put to the test With Celtic missing Cameron Carter-Vickers    through personal reasons and Giorgos Giakoumakis, along with many others, through injury, the thoroughness of the Celtic team is undoubtedly being put to the test. In addition, all three substitutes made by Ange Postecoglou this evening were forced with all of Anthony Ralston, Stephen Welsh and Jota being retracted for one reason or another. All of the above reasons clearly connote the need for recruitment in the January transfer window.  Carl Starfelt is nothing but reliable Upon return from injury, Swedish centre back Carl Starfelt was handed a vital role at the heart of the Celtic defence. The ...
Read more

Who is Jacob Brown?

Image
Scotland will take on Moldova and Denmark in the upcoming International break with just three points needed to secure a play off for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. For the Moldova match in particular, Scotland will be without Ryan Christie and on-form striker Lyndon Dykes; both will miss out through suspension. It was suspected that a new name would be brought in to fill the void with the likes of Johnny Russell and Tony Watt believed to be in the fray although Steve Clarke opted for an unsuspected pick in Stoke City forward Jacob Brown.   The now twenty three year old begun his career at English National League side Guiseley before moving to Barnsley under eighteens in 2015. Brown worked his way through the ranks at the South Yorkshire club before making his first team debut for Barnsley in the 16/17 season. Brown made an additional cameo later on in the campaign, mounting his total to two appearances for the season. In the first half of the 17/18 campaign, the attacker played five ...
Read more

What type of player would Celtic be getting in Mehdi Ghayedi?

Image
Iranian journalist Hatam Shiralizadeh first broke the story on Monday morning that Celtic had had an official bid for young attacker Mehdi Ghayedi turned down by Shabab Al-Ahli Dubai FC.   In the Twitter post, Shiralizadeh went on to state the Hoops are determined to sign the young talent and are set to return with another bid for the twenty three year old who plies his trade in the United Arab Emirates.  Despite contrasting reports saying Shiralizadeh’s claims are ‘Not True’, the journalist has provided another update stating Celtic are looking to sign Ghayedi however the player is reportedly happy at his current club.  Nevertheless, we’ve seen Ange Postecoglou work his magic in the transfer market thus far at Celtic and the Hoops have been no stranger to signing players from extravagant destinations recently; the addition of Ghayedi would be no different.  As a result, I’ll be delving further into who exactly the Iranian is through the aid of the man who originally...
Read more