Celtic and Rangers will lock horns today in a mouth-watering clash at Celtic Park. The talk of the town has been Rangers’ rise under Steven Gerrard as they are yet to be beaten in their 12 games. They also made it through to the Europa League and are playing in European competition after a gap of 8 years. But Celtic would be looking to bring Rangers back to ground by defeating them at home.
However, the Hoops themselves have plenty of problems to solve. Their start to the season has been far from perfect and they crashed out of the Champions League qualification as well. They did manage to make it through to the Europa League but many would consider that as a poor consolation. The transfer period had already caused a lot of headaches to Rodgers as his premium defender Dedryck Boyata declared himself unavailable for the initial games and the final nail in the coffin was laid by Moussa Dembele as he pushed through a move to French heavyweights Lyon. In all this, Rangers could think that this is their best chance to announce their resurgence and once again stamp their authority on their Glasgow neighbours.
Team News
Celtic
Moussa Dembele’s last minute transfer saga would have swept away Rodgers’ plan for the season in tatters. However, he would have been prepared to take on this game without him as he had left the Frenchman out in the second leg tie against Suduva due to transfer speculations. Odsonne Edouard is expected to return from his injury but it is yet not clear whether he would be hundred percent match fit. So the goalscoring onus could come on the shoulders of Leigh Griffiths. Jozo Šimunović and Jack Hendry are also struggling with injuries, however, the timely return of Boyata would be a sigh of relief for the manager.
Rangers
After a long trip from Russia and a marathon encounter against Ufa, the Gers player would be physically drained. Gerrard needs to pick his men up and prepare them for this clash. We expect everyone to be raring to go as nobody needs extra motivation to do well in the Old Firm derby. On the injury front, Graham Dorrans, Jamie Murphy, Lee Wallace and Jordan Rossiter would all be unavailable. It could be touch and go with Lassana Coulibaly in midfield.
Predicted Lineups
Celtic
Gordon, Boyata, Ajer, Tierney, Lustig, Brown, Ntcham, McGregor, Sinclair, Forrest, Griffiths
Rangers
McGregor, Barisic, Katic, Goldson, Flanagan, Tavernier, Arfield, Ejaria, Kent, Lafferty, Morelos
Key Men
Celtic
Olivier Ntcham is a midfielder who can do everything in midfield and he can rule in the middle of the park in games like these. Dedryck Boyata’s absence had probably cost them a place in the Champions League but now that he is back, he would be expected to lead the back line.
Rangers
Alfredo Morelos might not look pretty on the eyes every time, but he gets the job done more often than not. He is aggressive and competitive and that is what the fans would love to see in a derby. Connor Goldson has looked at home since he joined the Glaswegian outfit and has played a major role in resurrecting the Gers defence. He will have a big task on his hand of keeping the Bhoys attack quiet.
Odds
Celtic win 4/7
Rangers win 9/2
Draw 3/1
