Yet again, plenty on the line in the first Old Firm derby of the season. Rangers and Celtic arrive with perfect records in domestic football so far this term. Expect the usual mixture of fireworks, aggression and controversy at Ibrox as the two giants of Scottish football go head-to-head!
Rangers Form and Team News – Have the Gers learned from last season’s mistakes?
Rangers finished nine points behind their great rivals in the Premiership last season but have strengthened their squad over the summer and should get much closer to Celtic this time around.
The blue half of Glasgow is still awaiting their first league title since 2011. But they’ll be hoping their team can lay down a marker, and gain a psychological advantage, by beating the Hoops for the third time in a row at Ibrox.
Rangers have not conceded a goal in any of their last four matches across all competitions. They’ve scored five times in those four games but needed an injury-time winner from Alfredo Morelos to knock Legia Warsaw out of the Europa League on Thursday night. That extended their unbeaten run this season to 12 matches, however, and confidence is clearly high at the moment.
Having not made an anticipated move away from Ibrox over the summer, Morelos is well on course to head the scoring charts again for the Light Blues who have the experienced Jermaine Defoe as back-up. The former England striker has also been among the goals in the first weeks of the season and the likes of Conor Goldson and Jordan Jones continue to develop in Steven Gerrard’s new-look side, who look a lot more solid than previous incarnations. The way that Rangers have finished games this season also point to an improved fitness regime.
Celtic Form and Team News – Have the champions more to fear this season?
Celtic will fight tooth and nail to keep a firm grip on the Scottish Premiership title but their hierarchy will worry that the gap is closing between them and their greatest rivals.
The Hoops’ only defeat so far came when surprisingly beaten at home by Romanians Cluj in qualifying for the Champions League. But they made slight amends by securing qualification for the group stages on the Europa League by comfortably seeing off Swedish champions AIK. Like Rangers, they have a one hundred per cent record in the Premiership this season and are also through to the quarter-finals of the League Cup.
Neil Lennon’s team have scored an average of five goals a game in the Premiership so that attacking threat is as potent as ever. But it must be a worry to the manager that they’ve kept just one clean sheet in their last seven games across all competitions.
Hatem Elhamed will definitely miss the short trip across the city to Ibrox and Kristoffer Ajer is a major doubt having suffered a groin injury against AIK on Thursday – Moritz Bauer is the latter’s likely replacement. Odsonne Edouard was also forced off against the Swedes but is expected to be fit to face Rangers.
This will undoubtedly be the champions’ toughest test to date in the league but a win could set them up for the season and silence a few doubters.
Rangers v Celtic Head-to-Head
Rangers have won their last two matches against Celtic at Ibrox, both to nil, but Celtic had won the previous five. None of the last seven meetings have ended in a draw and the losing side has failed to score in five of the last six. There have been at least four yellow cards handed out in the last six fixtures between the teams. Referee Bobby Madden will likely be busy again, though red cards are not as common as many believe.
Rangers v Celtic Current Match Odds
Rangers 7/5, Draw 12/5, Celtic 21/10 (Odds correct at 11.00am August 30)
Rangers v Celtic Predictions
The pressure is probably on Rangers in this first Old Firm derby of the season.
This season’s title race could be decided by fine margins so it’s imperative that Gerrard’s team win any home fixtures against their great rivals. They’ve done just that the last twice and the atmosphere will again be white-hot this Sunday.
Celtic would probably settle for a point at Ibrox but they are not going to be at full strength. They’ve struggled when put under pressure a couple of times already this term.
Unibet’s 7/5 for a home win is a stand-out price at the time of writing and seems the most likely option in the Match Betting. Morelos has a point to prove against Celtic after last season’s Parkhead debacle and the Colombian is 9/5 with Unibet to be an anytime scorer.
