Scottish football’s first silverware is available this weekend as Hibernian and Celtic square off in the final of the Scottish League Cup at the Hampden Park on Sunday evening with kickoff at 18:00.
Both sides did well to reach this stage as the tournament is a competitive one and reaching the finals is a huge achievement. Both opened their Cup campaign in the second round with Hibernian knocking out Kilmarnock with a 2-0 home success, while Celtic dispatched Hearts in a 3-2 triumph.
There was no stopping for these two who passed the quarter-final with ease as Hibernian got past Dundee United in the 3-1 away success booking a place in the semifinals, while Celtic earned their ticket to the last four by easily overcoming Raith Rovers in a 3-0 victory.
The first semifinal of the competition saw Celtic trade tackles with St. Johnstone where Celtic managed to book a place in the Sunday’s final after emerging victorious in the hard fought 1-0 success, while Hibernian were given a rather tough exam as they faced Rangers in the second semifinal. However, Hibs were up for the test which they passed with flying colors as they put three goals past the Gers who only had one reply.
Hibernian will head into the final without a full-time manager following the recent sacking of Jack Ross. In his place will be the stand-in David Gray who is undefeated since taking over securing a draw and a win in his two league matches, which has changed Hibernian’s fortunes.
They will be looking to build on their impressive win against Rangers in the semifinals as they aim at elevating their status in the country with a triumph on Sunday.
Meanwhile this will be the first League Cup final for Ange Postecoglou as Celtic’s manager and winning the trophy would be a massive statement of intent and would increase Postecoglou’s already-high popularity among the Hoops support.
Celtic head into the game in a good form as they have won in all their last six matches across all competitions and will fancy their chances here as they have not lost Hibs in their last 11 encounters and the Hoops won with a 3-1 the last they went head to head.
Hibernian vs Celtic head to head
Both sides have met in 90 encounters since 1994 with Celtic dominating the record as they have collected 55 victories, there have been 24 draws while Hibernian have claimed only 11 victories.
- Hibernian 1-3 Celtic 27/10/21
- Hibernian 0-0 Celtic 15/05/21
- Celtic 1-1 Hibernian 11/01/21
- Hibernian 2-2 Celtic 21/11/20
- Celtic 3-0 Hibernian 27/09/20
Home
- Hibernian 1-0 Dundee
- St. Mirren 1-1 Hibernian
- Livingston 1-0 Hibernian
- Hibernian 1-1 Motherwell
- Hibernian 0-1 Rangers
Away
- Ross County 1-2 Celtic
- Celtic 1-0 Motherwell
- Celtic 3-2 Real Betis
- Dundee united 0-3 Celtic
- Celtic 1-0 Hearts
Hibernian team news
Hibs only have doubts over Chris Cadden and Kevin Nisbet who had to leave the field in their match against Dundee.
Celtic team news
Celtic will be without Kygo Furuhashi, Jota and Giorgos Giakoumakis through injuries while James Forrest and Mikey Johnson have fitness issues.
Prediction and odds
- Celtic win
- Both sides to score
- Goals over 2.5
