Could Celtic join Preston & Arsenal’s ‘Invincibles’ club this season?
The 2016/17 football season has proved to be largely unpredictable so far. The usual certainties of Bayern Munich winning the Bundesliga and Paris Saint-Germain winning Ligue 1 aren’t quite as clear cut as in recent years, while at least five Premier League sides still look capable of lifting the title in May, with Chelsea narrowly leading Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester City and Tottenham.
However, the Scottish Premiership hasn’t thrown up too many surprises, with Celtic pulling ahead of their opposition as they search for a sixth consecutive Scottish league title.
While the club were always expected to lift the title this season, with Rangers still recovering from their financial crisis slump and the likes of Aberdeen and Hearts still some way behind the Scottish heavyweights, Celtic’s feats this season have still been nothing short of remarkable.
The arrival of Brendan Rodgers, the man who guided a Liverpool side spearheaded by Raheem Sterling, Daniel Sturridge and the infamous Luis Suarez agonising close to the 2013/14 Premier League title, has taken the club to the next level with his fantastic transfer dealings throughout the summer.
It was the likes of Kolo Touré and Scott Sinclair who caught the eye during the transfer window, yet it is £500,000 wonderkid Moussa Dembélé who has stolen the spotlight so far. The 19-year-old has exceeded expectations at the club, scoring 17 and assisting three in 29 appearances, which has helped to send the club eight points clear with half of the season still to play.
Impressively, Celtic remain unbeaten after 13 matches, which has led to some murmurs of the club replicating the achievements of the ‘invincible’ Preston North End and Arsenal teams that embarked on entire unbeaten seasons in 1888/89 and 2003/04 respectively. There’s still a long way to go this season, yet given their impeccable form, there appears to be very little standing in Celtic’s way.
The club have already passed through some tough fixtures unscathed this season. Their home form has been flawless and any defeat is unlikely to come at Celtic Park. They will have to be careful away from home, but they have already proved that they can keep up their form on the road.
They have dispatched both third placed Aberdeen and fourth placed Hearts away from home and secured an impressive 5-1 victory against closest rivals Rangers at home in the league, while also defeating them away in the Scottish League Cup. Another trip to the Ibrox Stadium beckons before the New Year - if they can come through that match without suffering defeat there would be little left to worry about until they travel to Hearts again in April.
Having crashed out of the Champions League after finishing fourth in a group containing Barcelona, Manchester City and Borussia Monchengladbach, Celtic can now turn their attention solely to the league. Remaining unbeaten until the end would be an incredible achievement. Yet, given the distance between Celtic and their rivals, it wouldn’t come as too much of a surprise.
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