Rangers host Celtic at Ibrox on Sunday, March 10, in the first meaningful Old Firm in six years.
Rangers and Celtic meet for the third Old Firm derby of the season on Sunday, and the first in over half decade with something more than bragging rights on the line.
Rangers picked up only one point from the first two derbies, suffering a 2-0 defeat at Ibrox on matchday 7, and fighting for a scoreless draw on matchday 22 at Celtic Park.
In both matches, Celtic were the better side, dictating tempo, controlling the game and creating more chances.
A key player in their first meeting was Tom Rogic. Not only did he score the goal to finally break the deadlock early on in the second half, he was also able to consistently pick up the ball in pockets of space between Rangers’ defense and midfield.
From there, his size and technical ability was too much for any Rangers player to handle and he managed to find space to shoot or pick out a pass for wide players Scott Sinclair and Kieran Tierney.
Moussa Dembele’s movement up top will be a nightmare for the Rangers back four as always. If Brendan Rodgers chooses Patrick Roberts to start on the right wing — which he did in their first meeting — the Manchester City loanee could be a difference maker for the Hoops.
If Roberts is on his game and beating his opponents in one-on-one scenarios — thus opening up space for Rogic, Dembele, and Sinclair — it’s hard to imagine Rangers outscoring Celtic on the day.
However, if Graeme Murty elects to go with a 4-5-1, which he did in the second meeting this season, opposed to the 4-3-3 selected by former boss Pedro Caixinha in the first, Rangers should be able to do their supporters proud at Ibrox.
The 4-5-1 resulted in massive improvements in Rangers’ ability to match up in midfield with Rodgers’ side and surprisingly increased the pace of their counter-attacks. One player who was a threat in both games for Rangers was right-back James Tavernier.
The Englishman did an excellent job of making overlapping runs and delivering exquisite crosses into the box for the likes of Kenny Miller and Alfredo Morelos.
Morelos failed to convert clear-cut chances in both meetings this season, but hopefully that won’t be the case this time around and the Colombian will help assure his club they made the right choice in extending his contract to 2021 this week.
Both teams are without key players as Celtic are missing Mikael Lustig, Nir Bitton, Craig Gordon and Leigh Griffiths. Rangers will have to make do without the services of Graham Dorrans, Ryan Jack and Jordan Rossiter.
Rangers have won their last four league matches while Celtic have lost two of their last five away league matches. Momentum is on Rangers side which means for the first time in years, the match has title implications.
The Gers have come far since their liquidation and relegation to the Scottish third division in 2012. It took them four years to get back into the Scottish top flight, and while the Old Firm derby never died, it was certainly in a coma.
Once Rangers were back in the Scottish top flight, they still weren’t capable of giving Celtic a run for the title.
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This season is different.
A Rangers win would put them three points behind Celtic (who have a game in hand). It would fill the squad with confidence and momentum that could see them knock Celtic out of the Scottish Cup two weeks from now, and potentially finish ahead of them in the top-six stage of the season.
Finally, the Old Firm Derby is great again.