Celtic kick off their Scottish Premiership campaign on Saturday, welcoming a managerless Hearts to Parkhead.
Brendan Rodgers' side come into the clash in fine spirits having secured their place in the Champions League play-offs after defeating Rosenborg 1-0 in Norway.
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The Bhoys will fancy their chances after an undefeated 2016-17 season under Rodgers, while Hearts are in disarray after announcing the sacking of head coach Ian Cathro on Tuesday after they failed to progress from the League Cup group stage.
| Game | Celtic vs Hearts |
| Date | Saturday, August 5 |
| Time | 12:30 BST |
CELTIC TV CHANNEL & LIVE STREAM
In the United Kingdom, the match will be available to watch live on television on Sky Sports Main Event and by stream via the Sky Sports app .
Fans outside of the UK and Ireland will also be able to watch the game live on Celtic TV, Celtic's in-house broadcasting service.
| UK TV channel | Online stream |
|---|---|
| Sky Sports Main Event | Sky Go/Celtic TV |
CELTIC TEAM NEWS
Brendan Rodgers confirmed that Erik Sviatchenko's recurrence of a groin injury that forced him off after 25 minutes in the return leg against Rosenborg will see the defender sidelined for six weeks.
BR on @eriksviat following his injury in Norway: "We have just had his results so he will probably be up to six weeks out."
— Celtic Football Club (@celticfc) August 4, 2017
With the Dane forced to sit out, youngster Kristoffer Ajer could well line up next to Jozo Simunovic at centre-back – though Mikael Lustig could also do a job – while Dedryck Boyata continues to recover from a knee injury.
In the attacking department, Moussa Dembele remains sidelined with a hamstring problem but is expected to return midway through September.
Celtic will, however, be buoyed by the return of striker Leigh Griffiths, who was afforded a 20 minute cameo in Norway as he fights to return to full fitness for the start of the Bhoys' domestic league campaign.
CELTIC BETTING ODDS
Celtic are 1/4 favourites to secure a win in Glasgow according to Dabblebet, while a draw comes in at 9/2. A win for the Edinburgh side is 10/1, though it looks unlikely an upset will be on the cards.
Celtic 1/4 to beat Hearts in league opener
GAME PREVIEW
In the run up to the start of the new Scottish Premiership season, Celtic have been defeated only once – a 4-0 friendly defeat to Ligue 1 side Lyon. Otherwise – Dembele injury aside – the Bhoys have been in good shape.
A 6-0 aggregate win over Linfield had the Celts flying high, and followed up a 5-0 thumping of former Premier League side Sunderland with Wednesday night's 1-0 salvaging of the UCL qualifier against Rosenborg.
With Saturday's opponents possibly distracted by the ongoing backroom saga, Brendan Rodgers will undoubtedly feel that anything less than three points should be considered a big disappointment.
For the visitors, Hearts have installed Jon Daly as their interim manager following the sacking of Ian Cathro this week. Daly, a former Rangers striker, will pick the team to face Celtic on Saturday.
A press release from the Gorgie club reads: "Following on from Tuesday's announcement, the club can confirm that the recruitment process is already under way to identify and appoint a new permanent head coach.
"During this process, Jon Daly has been asked to take charge of first-team matters on an interim basis, supported by the current coaching team of assistant head coach Austin MacPhee and first-team coach Liam Fox.
"This interim set-up will take charge of the first team's Ladbrokes Premiership match at Celtic on Saturday, and until a new head coach has been appointed."
Ex-Juventus, Middlesbrough, Dundee and Italy striker Fabrizio Ravanelli has been linked with an interest in the vacant management post.