Game of the weekend: Hearts v Celtic

When the fixtures were announced this will have been one of the games that Brendan Rodgers noticed. If he had known then it was going to be a Saturday evening game, he might have been even more fearful of it.

A raucous Tynecastle roaring on the third-best team in the country who had brought in some Premiership-proven talent in the summer was a game to take note of.

Instead it is almost top v bottom, with Hearts 22 points behind having played two games more.

The bare numbers suggest a stroll for the champions, but something says a noisy stadium and Neil Critchley getting two weeks training with his new players will make this a tricky game for the leaders.

Hearts pushed Rangers close at Ibrox last time out and taking the scalp of Celtic would be a big help in the Englishman convincing Jambos he is the right man for them.

A win for Hearts and other results going their way would see them move up to eighth and mean a very different atmosphere among fans and players.

And the squad knows how it feels, winning 2-0 in March last season. A repeat performance would be Hearts’ first back-to-back home league wins against Celtic for the first time since 2006 under Valdas Ivanauskas.

Celtic having 13 players returning from international duty – with their Japan contingent facing long journeys – might help Hearts’ cause.

That said, you would imagine Rodgers, armed with sports science data on his squad, will select according to fatigue levels and whatever 11 he fields will be strong.

They despatched Hearts in September at Celtic Park but the visitors had a first-half penalty award overturned after Lawrence Shankland’s header came off Liam Scales’ arm – so the story could have been different.

But then you remember Celtic have won all six of their away league games this season by an aggregate score of 18-1.

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