Celtic continued their perfect start to the Scottish Premiership campaign with a convincing 3-0 win over their Glasgow rivals in the first Old Firm clash of the season on Sunday.
The Hoops won, thanks to goals from Daizen Maeda, Kyogo Furuhashi, and Callum McGregor, and have won all four of their league matches so far.
Brendan Rodgers' side, who also won the title in the 2023/24 campaign, are yet to concede a single goal in the division and have scored 12 past Hibernian, Kilmarnock, St Mirren, and Rangers.
One player who has been key to the club's Premiership success, particularly their impressive clean sheet record, has been central defender Liam Scales.
Liam Scales' impressive form this season
FFC published an article after the Old Firm clash on Sunday describing the Ireland international as undroppable, after he won 100% of his duels against the Gers.
The former Aberdeen loanee has proven himself to be a dominant figure on the left side of the Celtic backline this season and has played a pivotal role in their perfect defensive record so far.
Appearances
4
Goals
1
Pass accuracy
93%
Tackles + interceptions per game
2.5
Duel success rate
68%
As you can see in the table above, Scales has won the vast majority of his physical contests in the Premiership across his four outings this term, which shows that opposition attackers have found it difficult to get the better of him.
The Irish colossus, who has also been a reliable passer with his 93% success rate, has not been the only star of the season, though, and there is an argument to be made that Nicolas Kuhn has been the true hero of the campaign so far.
Nicolas Kuhn's wizardry on the flank
The German winger is in his first full season with the Hoops after joining from Rapid Wien in January ahead of the second half of last season.
He recorded two goals and an assist against Premier League champions Manchester City in pre-season and has carried that form over into competitive matches.
The left-footed star has been on fire in the Premiership with a return of two goals, two assists, four 'big chances' created, and 1.8 key passes per game in four appearances.
No Celtic player has been involved in more goals (four) than Kuhn in the top-flight this term, which illustrates his importance to the attack, whilst he also added a goal and an assist against Hibernian in the League Cup.
Kuhn ranks within the top 100% of Premiership players in his position for xG (0.77), shots on target (1.83), and touches in the opposition's box (11.34) per 90 respectively, which shows that he has been one of the most dangerous attackers in the league.
Celtic are being rinsed by a player who earns 2x more than Scales
The Hoops appear to have blundered by signing the central defender last summer.
1 ByDan Emery
The 24-year-old maestro, who has scored three goals and provided three assists in all competitions, has been the true hero of Celtic's season so far due to his exceptional attacking quality and influence in the final third, both in the league and in the cup.
