Celtic vs. Rangers: Keep an eye on these storylines

Steven Gerrard has brought intrigue to Rangers, and now has a chance to take down his old manager Brendan Rodgers.

Celtic has dominated the Scottish Premiership in recent years, but the Old Firm derby Sunday may prove different.

The Old Firm derby has been uncompetitive in recent years, as Celtic has steamrolled arch rivals Rangers in much the same way they have steamrolled all of the Scottish Premiership. Last year, Celtic beat Rangers in four of their five matches (drawing the other), including a 9-0 aggregate thrashing in their two most recent matches.

That could change this year, and this weekend. Liverpool legend Stephen Gerrard has taken over the managerial position at Rangers, with an undefeated record to his name thus far and qualification in the Europa League group stage achieved.

This weekend’s clash will go a long way towards creating the dominant storyline surrounding the Scottish Premiership. Will it be another hum-drum year where Celtic outclasses all domestic challengers? Or is the Celtic-Rangers blood feud back and fostering competition in the Premiership? Let’s look at some of the in-game storylines to see what might shift the tide of the tie.

Storyline 1: Gerrard vs. Rodgers

The managerial matchup has been the focal point of coverage ever since Rangers hired Gerrard back in May. Liverpudlians will be tuning in to watch their former talisman battle his former manager. Tactically, the match should be fascinating.

While Brendan Rodgers has been sniping at his board for a lack of investment, his side still utilize the tiki-taka ethos beautifully. Through better funding and, frankly, better players than the rest of the Premiership, Celtic can typically overpower and outrun many of the other teams, but they do so while playing an admirable style of football.

Gerrard, meanwhile, has opened up the warchest this summer. He’s brought Premier League talent to Rangers, with the signings of Connor Goldson and Jamie Murphy from Brighton, Scott Arfield from Burnley, and Jon Flanagan from Liverpool (as well as bringing in Liverpool’s talented youngsters Ryan Kent and Ovie Ejaria on loan). Bringing back forward Kyle Lafferty from Hearts for a second stint with the club has already provided dividends, as he scored a brace in his first game back against Motherwell.

While their Europa fixtures might have caused some tired legs in the 3-3 draw with Motherwell, Gerrard’s men have attacked the new year with aplomb, playing tenacious, fast football. Worryingly, however, they seem to be taking the term attacking a bit too literally.

Storyline 2: Rangers vs. Discipline

Rangers advanced past FC Ufa on Thursday to get into the group stages of the Europa League. However, this was a closer affair than intended as both forward Alfredo Morelos and full-back Jon Flanagan were sent off with straight reds.

This is not the first instance of Rangers players seeing red this year. In back-to-back Premiership games against Aberdeen and St. Mirren, a Rangers player saw red (one of the reds being by Alfredo Morelos again).

On the lighter side of discipline, it is worth mentioning how Kyle Lafferty’s old manager at Hearts felt about Lafferty’s departure…

Storyline 3: Celtic vs. Internal Drama

While we alluded to Rodgers’ discontent with the board for the lack of investment in the squad, that is leaving out the most impactful bit of business done by Celtic this summer. On deadline day, they sold talisman Moussa Dembele to Lyon after some training ground bust-ups and rumors of discontent. Dembele only further fanned these flames with his tweets after his departure:

https://twitter.com/MDembele_10/status/1035331156361863174

Another star player of the Bhoys, Dedryck Boyata, was dropped earlier this month after rumors of a fractious relationship between he and Rodgers.

Whatever the case may be, this Old Firm clash has serious drama coming from both sides. Glasgow’s ready for Sunday, are you?