Rangers v Celtic
Sunday 12th May 1200hrs
Football – Scotland – Premiership
Pick Draw
Bookmaker Marathon Bet
Odds: 61/25 (odds taken 19.20GMT, Friday 10th May)
It’s the last Glasgow derby of the season on Sunday and with the title wrapped up it should be a fairly meaningless occasion, right? Incorrect, Celtic against Rangers is always a huge game and this one will be no different.
Scottish Premiership Betting at Marathon Bet
Rangers Preview
Rangers know they are going to finish second in the league. They also know that Steven Gerrard’s first season in charge is going to end up with no silverware to show from it. You could be forgiven for thinking they are just looking for the campaign to end but that’s far from the truth as the Ibrox club are looking to lay down a marker for what’s to come when facing Celtic this weekend. It will be their last home game of the season and one where they’ll be looking to extend their winning run to six games, at the same time splitting the season’s fixtures with their rivals who have currently won both home games whilst Rangers were victorious the last time they met at this venue. Another target for Gerrard and his players is to ensure that the points margin between themselves and top spot is as low as possible. A win would reduce it to six points with a game to go and it would definitely rank as some improvement from what’s occurred in the last couple of seasons. Gerrard will once again have to make a decision between top scorer Alfredo Morelos and the in-form Jermaine Defoe who scored the only goal in Rangers’ win over Hibs last weekend.
Celtic Preview
Celtic secured their eighth consecutive Scottish Premiership title last weekend, courtesy of a 3-0 win away to Aberdeen. After surviving a few scares in the first half, the champions showed their class and strolled to three points that ensured they will be going for a record-equalling nine-in-a-row next season. Who will be in charge of the team in that quest is still to be decided but there remains big challenges ahead in the last couple of weeks of this campaign, starting with this weekend’s visit to Ibrox. The third leg of a potential treble treble also awaits on the 25th of May and Neil Lennon will be focussed only on that objective, and what would be a historic and unprecedented achievement. There has been talk in the build-up to the game that this game and next week are ideal opportunities for Lennon to rotate his squad ahead of that cup final but these games mean so much to both clubs and sets of supporters that it simply is not a realistic and we can expect a very strong Celtic team to take the field as they bid to continue a run which has seen them go unbeaten in 20 domestic matches in 2019 – their last defeat coming on their visit to Ibrox on the 29th December.
Key-Facts – Rangers v Celtic
- Rangers are on a run of five straight wins whilst Celtic are unbeaten in their last 20 domestic games
- Celtic hold the advantage in this season’s head to head in the derby having won two of the three meetings
- The visitors have kept 17 clean sheets in their last 20 games and will be looking to make amends for the defeat here at the end of December
Rangers v Celtic Betting Advice
Much has been made about the decision of Rangers (and then subsequently Celtic) to cut the away allocation for their rivals at the beginning of this season, with less than a thousand visiting supporters attending the derby games. To date, the games have went with home advantage and there’s no doubt it’s changed the dynamic of the fixture with the atmosphere very much in favour of the home team. Celtic have the last chance to buck that trend for this season, but they were visibly taken aback by the home support when last here and have to deal with the occasion much better this time around if they are to get a result.
Rangers have won five league games in-a-row for the first time in over seven seasons and they approach this game in confident mood. They can also take a lot of belief from the performance and win over Celtic last time they clashed at Ibrox. The visitors are very hard to beat, however, and have not lost since that game. Celtic may not be in their best form but they are good defensively and have kept 17 clean sheets from their last 20 matches. Games such as this are hard to predict but the draw looks like being a decent bit of value and a result that neither team would be overly disappointed with.
