Preview: Hibernian vs. Celtic - prediction, team news, lineups

Celtic and Hibernian will compete in the Scottish League Cup final on Sunday, with both teams aiming to claim their first piece of silverware.

The Hoops come into this match in stronger form overall, but the Hibees shall be aiming to pull off an upset to lift the trophy for the first time since 2006-07.

Match preview

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Celtic have not lost in their previous six matches across all competitions as they head into Sunday's cup final and they have built up plenty of momentum for themselves.

In the league, no team have conceded fewer goals than the Hoops, with Joe Hart being a standout performer for the club this season, which he will be hoping to continue this weekend.

Throughout the Scottish League Cup, Ange Postecoglou's team have made a drastic improvement on what they managed last year, which saw them knocked out in the second round by Ross County.

This time around they have been dominant, having put three past both Hearts and Raith Rovers before knocking out the defending champions, St Johnstone in the semi-final.

The squad will also be confident considering their last meeting with Hibernian resulted in a 3-1 victory, with Anthony Ralston, Cameron Carter-Vickers and Kyogo Furuhashi all getting on the scoresheet.

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The Hibees will be seen as the underdogs heading into this final, especially since the club does not currently have a full-time manager following the recent sacking of Jack Ross.

David Gray will be in charge of the team once again on Sunday and so far he is undefeated, having secured a draw and a victory in the league, changing Hibernian's fortunes.

A Paul McMullan own goal was enough to secure them a 1-0 victory against Dundee at the weekend and the squad shall be hoping to repeat that feat again this Sunday.

Hibernian have been free-scoring in this competition, first beating Kilmarnock 2-0 before they knocked out Dundee United with a 3-1 win.

However, their most impressive performance took place in the semi-finals where they faced Rangers as Martin Boyle fired his time through with a first-half hat-trick.

Team News

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Celtic have been dealing with a growing list of injury problems as of late which Postecoglou has had to manage and work around with their busy schedule.

Offensively a lot of their biggest threats are on the shelf with Furuhashi, Jota and Giorgos Giakoumakis all unavailable recently, while James Forrest and Mikey Johnston have also suffered fitness issues.

The Hoops boss did hint that a couple of players could be fit to return, even if that is for the bench, but he did not name anybody specifically, keeping things close to his chest ahead of Sunday.

Both Chris Cadden and Kevin Nisbet had to leave the field during Hibernian's recent victory over Dundee; however, Gray believes that both men should be available for the cup final.

The Hibees will also be relying upon Boyle to provide some magic upfront considering he has already scored four times in this competition.

Hibernian possible starting lineup:
Macey; McGinn, Hanlon, Porteous; Stevenson, Newell, Doyle-Hayes, Cadden, Campbell; Nisbet, Boyle

Celtic possible starting lineup:
Hart; Ralston, Starfelt, Carter-Vickers, Scales; Turnbull, Bitton, McGregor; Montgomery, Juranovic, Abada

We say: Hibernian 1-2 Celtic

In a cup final, anything is possible as form often goes out of the window, but it is hard to look past Celtic on Sunday given the manner in which they have been performing.

The Hoops are ruthless in attack and sturdy defensively, plus with all of the uncertainty and unsettledness of the managerial position at Hibernian, it will not have been smooth sailing preparing for this one.

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