Per week might be a very long time in soccer.
On the morning of December 9, Celtic had been eight factors away from Rangers, albeit having performed a sport extra, with the Ibrox facet going through a frightening journey to Spain in a make-or-break Europa League conflict earlier than a go to to Hampden for the League Cup last.
By 5.15pm on December 17, that hole had been reduce to 5 factors with Rangers now having two video games in hand, after reserving a last-16 spot within the Europa League and selecting up the primary silverware of the season with victory over Aberdeen on the nationwide stadium.
Celtic and Brendan Rodgers have steadied the ship since their December blip however, for the primary time in a very long time within the Scottish Premiership, we have now a real title race on our arms heading into what was as soon as the standard Ne’er Day (New Yr’s Day) Outdated Agency fixture.
Again-to-back league defeats for the primary time in additional than a decade by the hands of Kilmarnock and Hearts led to some unrest within the stands at Celtic Park in opposition to Steven Naismith’s facet. These supporters have been used to seeing a reasonably relentless Celtic facet tackle all comers underneath Ange Postecoglou over the previous 18 months or so however now there’s a feeling the champions could have weak spots for the primary time shortly.
With the Australian in cost, Rangers had been largely ready on a slip-up that by no means materialised however these defeats – the loss to Hearts was Celtic’s first in 52 home matches at Parkhead – have opened the door to a title race that even many Gers followers had beforehand assumed was locked shut for an additional season.
Rangers are unbeaten in 16 in all competitions underneath Philippe Clement since he was named as Michael Beale’s successor on October 15. They’ve been battling an ever-growing harm listing for almost all of the season however the Belgian has galvanised the gamers, the fanbase and the membership as an entire. Certainly, at one level Celtic’s lead over Rangers stood at 10 factors within the Scottish Premiership.
They are going to be unable to leapfrog Celtic with victory on December 30 after their sport in midweek in opposition to Ross County was postponed as a consequence of hostile climate however, win or lose within the east finish of Glasgow, Rangers are contenders once more – a risk that appeared distant after three losses of their opening seven league video games.
Within the blue nook…
In February 2022, Postecoglou used this fixture to propel his facet to the Premiership title. Rangers had been 4 factors clear when Giovanni van Bronckhorst succeeded Steven Gerrard at Ibrox however their league type started to dip and the Australian took full benefit.
A 3-0 win at Parkhead noticed Celtic exploit their momentum and Postecoglou barely seemed again till he left for Tottenham in the summertime. Psychologically, it felt like an vital end result.
Rangers won’t have the chance to capitalise on their very own momentum by topping the desk this weekend – however they’ll cross town in buoyant temper on the alternative in entrance of them.
Clement has loved a nice begin to his tenure in Glasgow. An accusation levelled at his predecessor Michael Beale is that he did not win huge matches throughout his time in cost at Ibrox. All of his largest matches had been, naturally, in opposition to Celtic.
Rangers followers lamented a chance missed when Beale’s facet conceded a late objective to attract 2-2 within the Ne’er Day fixture at Ibrox final season, when a win may have probably re-ignited a title race that seemed flat a number of months earlier than.
Holding on to say the factors in that sport would have purchased Beale a bit extra belief from the followers forward of the remainder of the marketing campaign.
Nonetheless, a Scottish Cup semi-final defeat, a League Cup last loss and one other disappointing end result at Parkhead meant Beale had little to hold on to when it comes to big-game wins and it will finally play a component in his exit from the membership.
This season’s 1-0 loss within the first derby at Ibrox meant Beale left the membership with one win in six in Outdated Agency video games – an unsustainable report for any supervisor on both facet of town.
Clement, in distinction, has already handed two main assessments in his time in cost. Rangers beat Actual Betis in Seville of their last Europa League group match earlier this month to make sure they topped the group and made it to the final 16 of the competitors. It was the primary time the membership had overwhelmed Spanish opposition in Spain and noticed them keep away from dropping out of the event.
Three days later they gained their first League Cup trophy in over a decade with a 1-0 win over Aberdeen at Hampden. Even when Rangers had been anticipated to win the competitors after Celtic had been eradicated within the second spherical, Clement nonetheless needed to ship on that expectation and already has credit score within the financial institution with supporters that Beale simply didn’t have.
Rangers have dropped simply two factors within the league since Clement was appointed and have conceded simply three targets in that point.
The subsequent check is available in his first Outdated Agency on Saturday at Celtic Park, nonetheless. None of Rangers’ final seven managers – together with caretakers – to face Celtic no less than as soon as gained their first assembly between the perimeters. Certainly, Ally McCoist was the final Rangers boss to take action in September 2011.
The 49-year-old has expertise of derby clashes in Belgium, with an honest report within the ‘The Topper’ fixture in opposition to Anderlecht as Membership Brugge supervisor, and in Ligue 1 as Monaco boss in opposition to Good within the Derby de la Côte d’Azur.
Few video games could have ready him for what comes this weekend, nonetheless, however Clement will demand his facet just isn’t overwhelmed by the event.
Rodgers rebuilding
Brendan Rodgers apologised to the Celtic supporters after his facet’s efficiency at dwelling to Hearts on December 16 however has had a response since then.
Again-to-back wins over Livingston and Dundee have restored their five-point lead on the prime of the desk, even when they’ve performed two video games greater than Rangers.
Regardless of that, Celtic haven’t fairly been firing on all cylinders this season – additionally dropping factors at dwelling to St Johnstone and Motherwell, in addition to dropping to Kilmarnock within the League Cup in August. Certainly, Celtic have already dropped 12 factors this season after dropping simply 15 in the entire of the final marketing campaign.
Rangers have picked up 28 factors from 30 within the league since Clement was appointed whereas Celtic have claimed 26 factors from a potential 36.
The Celtic boss has made no secret of his want so as to add ‘high quality’ to his squad. The membership may strengthen in January with key gamers together with Hyeon-Gyu Oh and Hyun-Jun Yang referred to as as much as the Asia Cup and the supervisor seemingly not proud of choices all through his squad however that won’t assist forward of this sport.
What’s going to assist, nonetheless, is the supervisor’s personal expertise on this derby.
Rodgers has an excellent report within the Outdated Agency. The Northern Irishman has misplaced simply as soon as on this fixture throughout his two spells in Glasgow, profitable 11 out of 14 matches – that means he has the most effective win ratio of any supervisor in Outdated Agency video games at 79 per cent.
A lot has been made from Rangers probably chopping the hole to 2 factors with two video games in hand with a win however Rodgers will relish the chance to flip that narrative and ship his facet eight factors clear going into the New Yr.
Even when Rangers have video games in hand, a Celtic win on Saturday would truly higher the benefit they’d over their rivals on the prime of the desk when Clement arrived at Ibrox. It might be Rodgers’ personal psychological blow to his rivals, very like the one Postecoglou landed almost two years in the past.
Rodgers was in cost when Celtic dismantled Mark Warburton’s Rangers facet 5-1 in September 2016, with the identical scoreline at Ibrox the next April. A 5-0 win in April 2018 secured the title for Celtic and the final Outdated Agency of his first spell ended with a 1-0 win over Steven Gerrard’s facet.
Issues have modified at Ibrox since these one-sided wins when Rangers had been trying to regroup after years within the decrease leagues. Rodgers will know the squad and supervisor he faces on Saturday pose a much more severe menace to his and Celtic’s title cost this time round however these experiences can solely be a optimistic for the hosts.
A number of members of Rodgers’ squad additionally know what it takes to recover from the road on this sport. Callum McGregor was pivotal for Rodgers in his first spell in cost and he stays so now, particularly if Rangers subject a makeshift midfield as a consequence of a raft of accidents.
Rodgers has endured a bumpier return to Parkhead than he presumably envisaged when he agreed to a second spell in Glasgow, however victory on Saturday would definitely quell any lingering unrest within the Celtic Park stands going into the winter break.
Harm worries and no away followers
There are a selection of different elements which may play a component in what occurs on Saturday at lunchtime.
Each groups have harm issues, with Celtic ready to search out out the extent of Cameron Carter-Vickers’ hamstring harm that compelled him off within the win over Dundee. Rodgers was hopeful the defender could be match for Saturday.
“He’s hopefully OK,” Rodgers mentioned. “He felt a bit of tightness and we had said to him before that he didn’t need to be a hero. If he felt anything, just come off. We’re hoping he’s OK but we’ll find out in the next couple of days.”
The Celtic supervisor additionally gave his strongest suggestion but that Reo Hatate and Liel Abada may function. Abada final performed for Celtic of their victory at Ibrox on September 3 earlier than struggling a thigh harm whereas coaching with Israel, whereas Hatate has been out for 2 months with a hamstring harm and has been a serious miss for Celtic this season.
“They could be around it,” Rodgers mentioned. “It’s another thing being ready to start, of course. Liel looked really good on the field when he trained with the group [on Christmas Day]. We kept him at home to do another session to build him up. We’ve missed his running, his goals. He’ll be brilliant for us for the second part of the season.
“Reo is at a great stage however not a stage to start out. We’ll see how he goes over these subsequent few days. He is coaching laborious, working nicely and it will likely be like having two new gamers once we get these two again.”
Clement, meanwhile, was facing the possibility of more injury woes after Connor Goldson pulled up in Rangers’ 2-0 win over Motherwell at Fir Park on Christmas Eve.
The Rangers boss was with out Nico Raskin, Tom Lawrence, Ryan Jack, Borna Barisic, Ben Davies, John Lundstram, Kemar Roofe, Jose Cifuentes and Danilo for the journey to Fir Park, with Goldson changed by John Souttar within the 86th minute.
Clement admitted he was a “little bit fed up” speaking about accidents however on Goldson he mentioned: “We take it day by day what the situation is and what the fitness of the players is. It’s difficult to plan in advance so I’m living from day to day.”
Lundstram, particularly, has been vastly improved underneath Clement and the supervisor will probably be praying the midfielder is prepared for the go to to Parkhead.
There will certainly be no Rangers supporters on the sport, nonetheless.
There have been no away followers on the first derby fixture this season at Ibrox and likewise on the final two league video games between Celtic and Rangers on the finish of final season as a consequence of a ticketing dispute over fan security.
Current Ne’er Day conferences
Regardless of Celtic’s home dominance during the last decade Rangers have an honest report within the conventional Ne’er Day Outdated Agency fixture in latest occasions. Over the previous 5 years, Rangers have solely misplaced one of many fixtures on the flip of the yr.
Rangers 2 Celtic 2 – January 2, 2023 – Ibrox
Michael Beale’s first Outdated Agency fixture within the Ibrox dugout led to frustration for the house facet as Kyogo Furuhashi’s late equaliser all however ended any hopes Rangers had of catching Celtic within the title race. Ryan Kent and James Tavernier had turned the sport round for Rangers after Daizen Maeda gave his facet an early lead but it surely was Kyogo’s late strike that preserved Celtic’s nine-point lead on the prime of the desk.
Celtic 3-0 Rangers – February 2, 2022 – Celtic Park
Celtic ended a seven-game winless run in Outdated Agency fixtures and went prime of the league with a 3-0 hammering of Rangers at Parkhead. Reo Hatate scored twice earlier than Liel Abada completed the sport as a contest earlier than half-time. Postecoglou’s facet didn’t look again on their method to the title.
Rangers 1-0 Celtic – January 2, 2021 – Ibrox
Rangers moved 19 factors away from Celtic on their method to their fifty fifth title due to a 1-0 victory over their Outdated Agency rivals. Nir Bitton was despatched off earlier than a Callum McGregor personal objective sealed the factors for Steven Gerrard’s facet – their third Ne’er Day victory in a row.
Celtic 1-2 Rangers – December 29, 2019 – Celtic Park
Celtic had been 5 factors clear on the prime of the league having performed a sport extra going into the sport at Parkhead however strikes from Ryan Kent and Nikola Katic, both facet of an Odsonne Edouard objective reduce that hole, with Rangers selecting up their first victory at Parkhead in almost a decade.
Rangers 1-0 Celtic – December 30, 2018 – Ibrox
Ryan Jack was the one goalscorer as Steven Gerrard’s Rangers inflicted a primary, and solely, Outdated Agency defeat on Brendan Rodgers with a 1-0 win at a raucous Ibrox. It was their first Outdated Agency win in 13 video games in all competitions.
Watch Celtic vs Rangers dwell on Sky Sports activities Soccer from 11.30am on Saturday; kick-off 12.30pm.