Celtic can build eight-point lead in high-stakes Rangers derby

Celtic have the chance to turn a miserable week into an eight-point cushion, but only if they can shake off back-to-back defeats before Rangers arrive at Celtic Park.

Sunday’s first league Old Firm derby of the season carries more weight than the fixture list alone suggests. Celtic go into it having lost 3-0 to Rangers in last weekend’s Premier Sports Cup quarter-final, then followed that up with a 3-1 opening Europa League defeat to Ferencvaros in midweek, as BBC Sport reports. Win, and Celtic move eight points clear at the top. Lose again, and it’s three straight defeats with Rangers suddenly just two points back.

Martin O’Neill insists the players are ready, and that despite the run of results Celtic remain far from rock-bottom while still leading the league. He wants more invention from his side but believes the squad is capable of turning things around, and has pushed back on suggestions that new arrivals were caught out by the occasion at Ibrox, arguing that anyone who experienced that game should need no further lessons in what an Old Firm derby demands. Read more on the fallout from that Ibrox defeat via The Celtic Star’s coverage of Celtic’s response.

Team News

O’Neill will assess one or two players who came off against Ferencvaros before finalising his side. Yang Hyun-Jun remains away on international duty with South Korea, and the manager has been non-committal on whether Kasper Hogh and Camilo Duran will lead the line together. Alistair Johnston and Callum Osmand are still out injured.

Rangers may be missing striker Ryan Naderi, who suffered an ankle injury in the win over Celtic following a challenge from Mika Baur – a moment the club has since raised with Scottish FA head of refereeing Willie Collum, questioning why no further action was taken. One further unnamed Rangers player is a doubt, though left-back Tuur Roomens has returned to training. More on the run of fixtures shaping both camps is covered in The Celtic Star’s look at the Old Firm fixture sequence.

Momentum and the Numbers

Derek McInnes has Rangers on a run of five straight wins with four clean sheets, and he’s been careful not to let complacency creep in, stressing that Sunday will demand the same work rate and performance level as the cup win, not an easy afternoon. He’s also played down the significance of travelling support being restricted, calling the talk around it overhyped.

Celtic’s league form has been strong enough to build a cushion in the first place – see The Celtic Star’s report on Celtic’s sixth win of the campaign – but two bad weeks have a way of erasing goodwill fast. Sunday is the answer or it’s the alarm bell. Mon The Hoops.