Celtic extended their league winning run to 21 matches against Motherwell on Saturday, edging on step closer to a six league title in a row. Now they travel north to face Inverness Caledonian Thistle, hoping to stretch that run to 22.
Amazing as the Hoops’ run is, even Brendan Rodgers think it will come to an end at some point. When asked again about the prospect going unbeaten this season, the Celtic boss reiterated a team will beat them this season.
As quoted by The Sunday Post, he said: “Listen, like I said before, we will lose a game, for sure.
“What we have to do is just resist as much as we possibly can. Perform how we want to, and if we do that then we can’t do any more. I know it is boring and not what you want to hear but I tend to really look at the next game.
“It (the record) is a few games away and football is so difficult to forecast. Saying that to the players would absolutely be contradictory, it would add pressure.”
Could that team be Richie Foran’s Inverness, a side that are currently just one point ahead of bottom placed Hamilton in the table? It seems unlikely, but there are a number of reasons why this may be the case.
Here are four such reasons why Inverness are in fact the team most likely to end their unbeaten run…
They’re the only team to take points off Brendan Rodgers
Celtic’s winning run would be even more remarkable had they held on for all three points against Inverness in September. Only an 89th minute Gary Fisher equaliser stands in the way of Celtic winning every single match this season so far.
That Inverness are the only team to not be beaten by Celtic in Scotland this season must be a great source of pride for Richie Foran’s men and will give them a massive psychological boost ahead of the visit of Celtic on Wednesday night.
They’re fighting for their Scottish Premiership lives
The fact that Inverness Caledonian Thistle are clinging on to Scottish Premiership survival makes them a very dangerous side. We’ve seen on many occasions that relegation struggles often put in massive performances against bigger teams, on their day just fancying it more.
That could be a reason why Wednesday night’s match could play out much differently to the recent 6-0 demolition of the Caley Jags we saw from Celtic in the Scottish Cup.
They’re on a massive high
Inverness CT pulled off an absolutely massive victory over Rangers last Friday night thanks to a stunning overhead effort from a returning Billy McKay. The Northern Ireland international is back on loan at Inverness after such a prolific spell with the club between 2011-2015 and made himself a hero again with the strike against the Gers.
They hadn’t won a Scottish Premiership match in 14 games preceding that one and the confidence boosting win could be the spark they needed to turn their season around.
That marks them out as a tricky proposition despite the massive difference in quality on paper when comparing the two sides.
If Billy McKay can produce the magic again, then who’s to say they can’t pick up a result?
It’s never easy for the Bhoys up North
Although Celtic win most matches against Inverness CT, in recent seasons it hasn’t all gone Celtic’s way in the fixture.
In 2014/15 the Bhoys failed to beat Inverness away from Celtic Park, losing one Scottish Premiership match and drawing anoother at the Caledonian Stadium before being put out by the Caley Jags in the Scottish Cup at Hampden.
Celtic have beaten Inverness on their home turf by more than one goal on just one occasion in the last four years. It’s always a difficult place to go and the side always work hard and cause a threat for their own supporters.
Can Wednesday night be the night they prove Rodgers right and become the team he says will beat Celtic this season?