While Celtic fell to a 2-1 defeat away at Hibernian a fortnight ago, they are a different beast at home. Brendan Rodgers’ side have won 17 of their 18 league and cup matches at home this season, with the only blot on their copybook a 2-2 draw with Aberdeen. That remarkable win rate is made all the more impressive by the fact that 16 of those 17 triumphs have come by more than a one-goal margin.

While in-form Hibs will head to Celtic Park in high spirits, they have been outclassed in each of their previous 2 visits to this venue this season, losing 3-1 in August and then going down 3-0 towards the tail end of 2024.

Celtic look well placed to hit the most corners in each half during Sunday’s Scottish Cup tie with Hibernian. The relentless nature of Celtic’s performances in the Scottish Premiership this season has coincided with them averaging in the region of 9 corners per game, which is comfortably the highest average in the division.

Rodgers’ attack-minded outfit racked up 10 corners when falling to defeat at Hibernian a fortnight ago, winning the corner battle in each half of that capital clash. That was also the case when Celtic played host to Hibs back in December, forcing 6 and 8 flag-kicks either side of the referee’s half-time whistle. 

It’s also worth noting that the likes of Hearts, St Mirren and Aberdeen have all earned the most corners during their respective meetings with the Hibees in recent weeks.

With an entertaining cup tie anticipated at Celtic Park on Sunday afternoon, a minimum of 1 goal in each half looks worth siding with. Brendan Rodgers’ side have been scoring goals for fun in front of their own supporters this season, racking up 48 strikes across their 14 Scottish Premiership home games to date. Across that 14-game sample, the Hoops have hit the back of the net in each half in 10 of those Parkhead assignments, one of which was a 3-0 victory over Hibernian. What’s more, there were goals in both halves when Celtic defeated Hibs 3-1 in a Scottish League Cup tie in Glasgow at the beginning of the season.

On top of all that, there has been at least 1 goal in each half of the game in 8 of Hibernian’s last 9 Scottish Premiership matches, including their recent 2-1 win over Celtic.  

Daizen Maeda’s incredible goal-scoring form makes him an attractive anytime goalscorer option. The Celtic ace continued his red-hot form in front of goal by firing in his 26th goal of the season against St Mirren last Saturday. That means Maeda has made the net bulge 7 times across his last 5 starts in the Scottish Premiership, bagging a pair of braces in the process. The Japanese forward also helped himself to a hat-trick in the previous round of the Scottish Cup against Raith Rovers.

Maeda’s record in meetings with Hibernian this season offers more encouragement, with the Hoops hitman hitting 3 goals across his 4 appearances against the capital club thus far. That doesn’t bode well for a Hibs side that have failed to keep a clean sheet in 7 of their last 9 Scottish Premiership matches.