Brendan Rodgers' Celtic are aiming to make it an incredible 70 games without defeat in domestic competition on Sunday when they take on Hearts.
The Bhoys are comfortable at the top of the Scottish Premiership this season with a five-point lead over Rangers and Aberdeen and are hoping to improve their stranglehold at the top of the league with a milestone victory.
However, they face a team currently on the up, with two straight victories after a six-match winless run in Craig Levein's Jam Tarts.
| Game | Hearts vs Celtic |
| Date | Sunday, December 17 |
| Time | 12:30 GMT / 07:30 ET |
TV CHANNEL & LIVE STREAM
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In the UK, the match will be broadcast on Sky Sports Football and available online on the Sky Go app. For international audiences, an online stream is available through Celtic and Hearts' own streaming services.
| UK TV channel/stream | International online stream |
|---|---|
| Sky Sports Football/Sky Go app | Celtic TV/Hearts TV |
SQUADS & TEAM NEWS
| Position | Hearts players |
|---|---|
| Goalkeepers | McLaughlin, Hamilton |
| Defenders | Smith, Souttar, Berra, Nowak, Brandon, Smith-Brown |
| Midfielders | Walker, Gzelak, Moore, Milinkovic, Randall, Cochrane, Henderson, Cowie, Callachan |
| Forwards | Lafferty, Stockton, Isma, Goncalves |
Hearts boss Craig Levein has some big concerns over his selection for this game after his side's win over Motherwell.
Centre-back John Souttar is absent as he serves a suspension for picking up his sixth yellow card two weeks ago, while fellow defender Aaron Hughes, midfielder Arnaud Djoum and forward Jamie Walker are all injured.
Potential starting XI: McLaughlin; Randall, Nowak, Berra, Smith; McDonald, Cochrane, Buaben; Moore, Stockton, Goncalves.
| Position | Celtic players |
|---|---|
| Goalkeepers | Gordon, De Vries |
| Defenders | Simunovic, Gamboa, Tierney, Boyata, Ajer, Lustig, Sviatchenko, Ralston |
| Midfielders | Bitton, Roberts, Brown, Sinclair, Armstrong, Hayes, Rogic, Ntcham, Benyu, McGregor, Forrest, E. Henderson, L. Henderson, Eboue |
| Forwards | Griffiths, Dembele, Edouard, Miller, Johnston, Aitchison |
Dedryck Boyata was taken off with an injury in Wednesday's 3-1 win over Hamilton, and his replacement that night, Jozo Simunovic, will likely take his spot in Edinburgh.
Rodgers does not have any other new injury concerns, but could make a few alterations to the squad that played on Wednesday.
Potential starting XI: Gordon; Tierney, Ajer, Simunovic, Lustig; Forrest, Ntcham, Brown, Armstrong, Griffiths, Sinclair.
BETTING & MATCH ODDS
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Celtic are 4/11 favourites to win, according to dabblebet , with Hearts priced at 7/1 and the draw available at 15/4.
Click here to view dabblebet's full selection of available match markets .
GAME PREVIEW
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Celtic still have a sizeable lead over their rivals, but two slip ups in recent weeks have coincided with a solid run from Rangers.
If the Gers beat St Johnstone and Aberdeen get the better of Hibernian on Saturday, the gap will be cut to two points before Celtic kick off.
Having avoided defeat in any domestic competition since May 2016, though, Celtic will be confident of ensuring they remain in control of the league, especially after a solid performance against Hamilton in midweek.
The trip to Tynecastle will be Celtic's fifth of the nine games they have scheduled in December and Rodgers is expected to make some changes to keep his side fresh.
Leigh Griffiths and Jozo Simunovic were used as second-half substitutes against Hamilton and will likely be back in the starting XI. Kieran Tierney, Mikael Lustig and Moussa Dembele were unused substitutes and could feature this time out.
Despite hitting the halfway mark of an intense fixture list, the Celtic boss will not accept any drop in form from his team as they look to hold onto their advantage.
"Since our first pre-season game, we’ve been training, playing, training, playing – right the way through to now," he said.
"It’s not an excuse. We have to be ready to work hard and press and when we have the ball look after it. I thought in the main that the team did that really well."
And they come up against a side that has been depleted by injury.
Levein is likely to call upon 16-year-olds Harry Cochrane and Anthony McDonald to help fill roles left by the suspended John Souttar and the injured Aaron Hughes, Jamie Walker and Arnaud Djoum.
The Jambos have had a sudden improvement in form after clean sheet wins against Dundee and Motherwell, so they might fancy themselves to make it three in a row by upsetting the champions.
