When Celtic lost their final game of 2018 at Ibrox, alarm bells were ringing. Brendan Rodgers’ men had been battered on the day, and to make matter worse, pegged back to level terms in the title race.
They still had a game in hand to come but it all felt very ominous. Ten-in-a-row couldn’t be further from anyone’s mind. Eight was on the line.
There’s no doubting that the winter break came at the ideal time for the Hoops. They jetted off to Dubai and seemed to leave any unwanted baggage in the Far East. They returned a fitter and more focussed proposition and immediately set about winning games again.
The numbers
Between then and now, Celtic haven’t lost a single domestic game. They’ve won 17 of their 20 matches, drawing three. The defence has played a huge part in that run, keeping 17 clean sheets. They’ve conceded just three goals in 2000 minutes of football.
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The forwards have done their bit too, netting 42 goals in the 20 games. Those goals have been fairly well spread out across 11 players.
Scott Sinclair has led the way with 8 goals although the Englishman hasn’t scored since Neil Lennon came in. Odsonne Edouard (7) and James Forrest (6) are next in while Ryan Christie, Timothy Weah and Oli Burke each have four.
Captain Scott Brown has netted three goals while Jozo Simunovic and Callum McGregor both have two to their name. Finally, Tom Rogic and Mikael Lustig both have just the solitary strike.