Celtic host Hearts in first meeting since May title decider

Celtic host Hearts at Celtic Park on Sunday, October 18, in the teams’ first meeting since Celtic’s 3-1 win in May secured the league title. The match is scheduled to kick off at 3 p.m., with Hearts seeking a response to the defeat that ended their title challenge and Celtic aiming to recover from a European loss on Thursday. Hearts arrived at the May 16 match needing a point to claim their first league title in 65 years. They led for much of the contest, but Daizen Maeda scored late and Callum Osmand added a stoppage-time goal as Celtic won 3-1. The result clinched the title for Celtic and left Hearts second. Celtic manager Martin O’Neill said he expects Hearts to remain title challengers and believes players who featured in May may want to put that defeat right. He also said the team had recovered from a difficult start to the season. Hearts are third in the league table, according to the reports, and have recorded a strong run of results after losing their opening league match. The personnel have changed since the title decider. One account reported that manager Derek McInnes, captain Lawrence Shankland and midfielder Cammy Devlin had moved to Rangers, while Wouter Vrancken...