Celtic vs Hibs Prediction: Back the hosts on the handicap

Saturday brings five games from the Scottish Premiership, and they all kick off in the fan-friendly 3:00pm slot. Rangers visit Dingwall at noon in Sunday’s feature to complete the round and you can follow our match preview and predictions on that one at Betfred Insights. On this page, we focus on the game in Glasgow where Premiership leaders Celtic host Hibs following an important win at Pittodrie in midweek.

The Bhoys kick-start a huge week for the club as they prepare to play in three competitions. They face Hibs in the Premiership before visiting Dinamo Zagreb in the UEFA Champions League and rounding things off with a League Cup final against Ranges at Hampden. Keep reading as Betfred’s Frank Monkhouse aims to steer readers towards another profit with his Celtic vs Hibs Predictions...

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Celtic head into the latest round of fixtures sitting on top of the Scottish Premiership following 13 wins and a draw in their first 14 starts. The spare in that run was a 2-2 home share with second-placed Aberdeen, but Brendan Rodgers’ men responded to claim a crucial 1-0 win at Pittodrie in midweek.

The Dons played their part in a competitive match, but a moment of magic from Reo Hatate ensured the points went back to Glasgow at the full-time whistle

Hibs bus from Edinburgh to Glasgow sitting down in 11th position, with only city rivals Hearts beneath them in the pecking order. It has been a miserable season so far for the Hibees, and they’ve won only two of their first 15 games, drawing six and losing seven.

The visitors are unbeaten in two after taking four of the last six points available. Can they upset the odds and the predictions of most tipsters to score an overdue win in this fixture?

Celtic vs Hibs Odds

Celtic are without a defeat so far as they race towards another title and barring a huge collapse, Rodgers’ team could wrap things up earlier than usual this term.

There’s still a long way to go in the league, but the hosts already enjoy a seven-point cushion over Aberdeen, who have played a game more, and they’re 11 points better than Rangers in third. Fancy another win for Celtic?

You can back the home team at 1/6 (86% probability) with Betfred and that’s a price best suited to your weekend accumulators.

Hibs face the unenviable task of trying to stop Celtic in full-flight, and they attempt to do so from a dangerous position. The visitors are stuck hard in the relegation zone and only recently passed Hearts to climb off the bottom spot. They drew 3-3 at home to Aberdeen before landing a welcome three points last Saturday by beating Motherwell 3-0 at Fir Park.

Have Hibs finally turned the corner and are about to start climbing the table? You can back the away win at 14/1 (7%) or try the draw at 13/2 (13%).

Celtic -1 handicap

Getting the win at Pittodrie on Wednesday required a big effort from Celtic, and that’s likely to result in a few tired legs in the home dressing room. It’s up to the manager to freshen things up before playing a side that didn’t feature in midweek and have had seven days off.

Thankfully for followers of the home team, the manager has a sizeable and talented squad to choose from on Saturday.

If he can get his team selection correct and give Hibs the respect they deserve, Celtic should have no issues adding another three points to their already impressive tally.

The home win is too short to back as a single, so we shoot for a little more value by backing Celtic -1 goal on the handicap at odds of 1/2. There’s enough in that for a single bet.

Both score and Celtic win

Now we have our main bet sorted, let’s look for a play at higher odds. We’re taking both teams to score in a home win at 6/4, and that’s worth a bet. The head-to-head stats show both scored in a Celtic win when these teams last met in the League Cup at Parkhead in the summer.

The same approach would’ve also landed you a return in three of the last four renewals of this fixture.

Hibs may not have won many games this season, but they’ve had no trouble finding the net recently. The visitors scored in each of their five games played in November, notching a total of nine goals, which is difficult to ignore.

The home defence may be feeling the stresses of Wednesday, and we’re happy to take a chance on Hibs finding the net but losing the game.

Frank Monkhouse covers Scottish Football for us here at Betfred Insights. You can check out all of his work along with that of the rest of our Football Betting Tips desk on our main Football page...