SoccerPreview
Celtic v Hearts: Pick of the stats
TL;DR
Celtic can secure their 56th Scottish title with a win against Hearts, while Hearts could claim their first title since 1960. Both teams have significant stakes in this match, with Hearts aiming for a historic achievement against the Old Firm.
Key points
- Celtic can win their 56th Scottish title with a victory.
- Hearts could secure their first title since 1960 with a draw or win.
- Hearts aim to be the first non-Old Firm champions in 40 years.
CelticHeartsScottish Premiership
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- A win for Celtic in this match will crown them Scottish champions for the 56th time – overtaking Rangers (55) for the most of any side. Indeed, Celtic have won the title in 13 of the past 14 seasons, the only exception being 2020-21, when Rangers won it.
- Should Hearts avoid defeat, they will be confirmed as champions. It would be their fifth Scottish top-flight title, the most of any non-Old Firm club, and their first since 1959-60.
- Hearts would be the first non-Old Firm side to win the title since Alex Ferguson's Aberdeen in 1984-85, and would end a run of 40 successive titles won by either Celtic or Rangers.
- Having already beaten Rangers three times and Celtic twice in 2025-26, Hearts could become the first side in Scottish football history to win six games against the two Old Firm clubs in a single league season.
- Celtic are winless in their three league meetings with Hearts this season (D1 L2); the last sides other than Rangers that the Parkhead club failed to beat in a league campaign were both Hearts and Motherwell in 1994-95.
- Including the curtailed 2019-20 campaign, Celtic have only lost their final league game in one of the past 18 seasons (W14 D3), a 1-0 defeat to Aberdeen in 2017-18. In this time, they have played Hearts five times on matchday 38, winning the past four (D1).
- After their 1-0 win over Kilmarnock last season, Hearts could win their final match in back-to-back top-flight campaigns for the first time since 2002-03/2003-04 against Dundee and Motherwell respectively.
- Celtic have won their past six Scottish Premiership matches – their longest run of the season, while no side has yet won seven in a row in the competition in 2025-26. Should Celtic win here, seven wins would be their longest streak to finish a league season with since 2009-10, when they won their final eight in a row – the last of which was against Hearts.
- The top four players in the Premiership this season for points won via their goals are Celtic duo Daizen Maeda (16) and Benjamin Nygren (13), and Hearts pair Lawrence Shankland (12) and Claudio Braga (12). Only Motherwell's Tawanda Maswanhise has scored more goals overall (17) than all four of those players in the competition in 2025-26 (Nygren 16, Shankland 15, Braga 14, Maeda 13).
Q&A
What would a win for Celtic mean in the Scottish Premiership?
A win for Celtic would crown them Scottish champions for the 56th time, surpassing Rangers for the most titles.
How can Hearts become champions in their match against Celtic?
Hearts can be confirmed as champions if they avoid defeat against Celtic, marking their first title since 1959-60.
What is the historical significance of Hearts winning the title?
If Hearts win the title, they would be the first non-Old Firm side to do so since Aberdeen in 1984-85, ending a 40-year dominance by Celtic and Rangers.