Celtic have wrapped up the title with relative ease in the end as they stand 9 points clear of their arch-rivals Rangers. Neil Lennon is also on track to achieving a treble as his side will take on Hearts of Midlothian in the Scottish Cup finals after the Old Firm derby. The Celtic fans would want to have the final bragging rights over Rangers before the season ends. The Bears got the better of the Hoops when they met at Ibrox the last time around, and Celtic will want to take them down a few pegs.
The Hoops under Neil Lennon haven’t played breathtaking football, but they have managed to get the job done. Lennon has already guided his side to one victory against Rangers this season, but the Bears are on a good run of form as they have won every game after that. Here is what Lennon needs to do to ensure victory for the Bhoys.
Be prepared for the early high octane start
Rangers are likely to come off the blocks strongly backed by the boisterous home crowd. Gerrard will take inspiration from December’s win where he managed to get one over Brendan Rodgers’ side. The Gers are likely to press Celtic high, and the Hoops’ midfielders and defenders aren’t expected to get too much time on the ball.
Therefore Lennon needs to make sure that they are ready for such a start and his side can weather the early storm. Celtic need to make sure that they don’t end up playing any loose passes in dangerous areas.
Keeping Kent in check
Mikael Lustig might need some extra help down Celtic’s right-hand side to keep someone like Ryan Kent quiet. Even when Celtic were a man up in the last derby, the English winger created a lot of trouble to Celtic’s defence and scored a spectacular solo goal to bring his side level out of nowhere. Therefore Celtic might have to pay special attention to him, and maybe James Forrest or Scott Brown will have to help their fullback in keeping the Liverpool loanee under check.
Being street smart and trusting their overall quality
One thing for sure is that these set of Rangers players could be rattled as Gerrard hasn’t been able to keep them disciplined throughout the season. Celtic should try to use that against Rangers once again as quite a few players could self implode if they get a bit of stick from the Celtic players. Basically, Celtic should engage in sh*thousery given the way Rangers players have continuously lost their heads throughout the season.
Rangers might start quickly, but Celtic should have enough quality to bring this Rangers team down. The Bhoys need to make sure they get the likes of Callum McGregor, Jame Forrest, Tom Rogic and Kieran Tierney in attacking areas and that could trouble the home side given their quality.
