Opinion: Celtic duo deserve more credit for performances this season

Celtic should be very pleased with how the Hoops defence has performed domestically this season. There might still be issues in Europe, but when it comes to domestic football, the Bhoys for the most part have been rock solid.

Indeed, at the time of writing Celtic have the best defensive record in the Scottish Premiership this season, having conceded 18 goals in 31 games.

A big reason for the good defensive record has been the performances of centre-back duo Carl Starfelt and Cameron Carter-Vickers. The duo played their first game together against Ross County in September and since then the Hoops have only conceded 15 goals in the Premiership.

Despite the good performances, there still seems to be concern from some people about the Celtic defence, and the chances that the team gives up, especially from set pieces.

Writing in his Daily Record column today, former Hoops striker Chris Sutton says “I still have doubts about Celtic defensively over cross balls and I’m not sure they are completely solid at set pieces.”

Yes Celtic will need to be wary of set pieces for sure against Rangers on Sunday, and indeed it was through a set piece that the Ibrox side scored the only goal of the game in the first Glasgow derby of the season.

But that game was played before Carter-Vickers joined the Hoops, and the Celtic defence has greatly improved since then, and if the Bhoys do go on to win the Premiership title then that would have had a lot to do with the performances of the central defence.

Of course, Joe Hart in goals has played well for the Hoops, and the full-backs have been solid for the most part, but the defenders that are in action the most for the Bhoys are the centre-backs, and it shouldn’t be forgotten that Carter-Vickers