Celtic’s win over Hearts last weekend set the team up with a huge boost in confidence ahead of the Glasgow Derby on Saturday.
A comprehensive 3-0 win was bolstered with a superb team performance that really pleased Brendan Rodgers ahead of the big game against Rangers.
With Kyogo Furuhashi grabbing a superb double and Callum McGregor and Matt O’Riley running the midfield, Celtic looked really hungry and sharp in their win over the capital club.
And that is why Simon Donnelly has predicted that his old club will have too much in their locker for Rangers to be able to compete at Parkhead.
How Rangers can’t ‘compete’ with Celtic
The former Celtic hero was speaking ahead of the big game on Saturday and said that if Celtic show the same kind of endeavour with their passing as they did against the Edinburgh club, they will beat Rangers in the top-of-the-table clash.
Donnelly said [Superscoreboard], “He [Kyogo] looks back to his usual self. He took the goals really well. The first one, sharp inside the box.
“The second one’s a fantastic one because he has to concentrate on it coming out of the air for so long and he takes it first-time.
“He looks to be, as I say, back to his sharp best. Does that coincide with the likes of Hatate coming back into the team?
“Celtic are looking more like their strongest 11. Possibly. But certainly, the way they popped the ball about, especially when it got to 2-0 there was a lot of confidence or energy there.
“And I think another performance like that at the weekend is enough for Celtic. I don’t see Rangers being able to compete with that.”
Celtic’s passing helped destroy Hearts
With 60% of the possession, Celtic made every second that they had the ball count.
Brendan Rodgers’ side made 488 passes in the game against Hearts with 82% of those finding a green and white hooped jersey.
With those passes, Celtic carved out 17 shots on goal with eight of those on target. Remarkably, half of all the passes completed were made in the Hearts’ side of the pitch.
This led to Celtic having 47 touches inside the Tynecastle club’s penalty box and scoring three excellent goals against our opponents. [Fotmob]
It really was a masterclass and Donnelly is right. If Celtic can replicate that against Rangers, then the three points will stay in Paradise this Saturday evening.