Fran Alonso takes his Celtic squad to Broadwood this evening to take on the current SWPL1 Champions knowing that a win will see Celtic leapfrog them to go to the top of the league looking down on theRangers.
Celtic lost the recent match against the other title challenges Glasgow City, with Fran Alonso not dwelling too much on the shocking refereeing decision that denied Amy Gallacher a stonewall penalty that could have given Celtic the lead. Glasgow City later in the match were awarded a spot kick and in their game last weekend against theRangers both sides were given penalties in their 1-1 draw. Anyone but Celtic as Paul Larkin has pointed out previously.
READ THIS…Glasgow Derby Special: “The motivation is to wear the Hoops in any game,” Fran Alonso
Other than those two matches all three sides have won all their other SWPL1 games so these head-to-heads are looking like adding up to title deciders and a win at Broadwood will give a huge confidence boost to Celtic FC Women’s title hopes.
Last season theRangers won all three league matches against Celtic, while the Hoops knocked theRangers out of both cup competitions before going on to win both the League Cup and the Scottish Cup, but a league win over the big spending theRangers Women side is long overdue.
Match Officials
The Scottish FA have appointed Lorraine Watson as referee with Vikki Allan and Vikki Robertson as her assistant referees. The fourth official is Stuart Broadfoot and incidentally talking of the Scottish FA, you may have noticed that they have a new Compliance Officer, Martin Black who replaces outgoing confirmed blue-nose Andrew Phillips.
Celtic Team News
Jacynta returns from her two match ban while Clarissa Larisey, who was rested last week against Hearts, is likely to start alongside the Australian to give Celtic maximum strike power. Amy Gallacher could also feature in the starting line-up but today’s match is probably coming too soon for Shen Menglu who is carrying a knock.
Alonso is likely to go with his most experienced players for this game which will be played in front of a large, hostile crowd, perhaps a record attendance for an SWPL1 match.
The Celtic Star was invited along to watch the team train yesterday morning at Barrowfield and there’s no doubt that the squad is looking forward to this game and getting the three points.
Predicted Celtic Team: Tajonar, Hayes, Clark (c), O’Riordan, Otto, Robertson, Chance, Ashworth-Clifford, Gallacher, Jacynta and Larisey.
Kick-off Time
theRangers v Celtic FC Women kicks off at 5.15pm this afternoon. The match is all ticket with the small Celtic allocation selling out yesterday. The Ibrox club have been selling their own tickets at £1 to maximise their home advantage so there could be a record crowd for an SWPL1 match this evening.
Where to Watch
The match will broadcast live on BBC Alba, so forget the World Cup for a few hours and tune in to what should be a dramatic afternoon as Celtic look to get the better of theRangers in the Glasgow Derby.
⚽ @RangersWFC 🆚 @CelticFCWomen
📆 26/11/2022
⏰ 17:00 📺 @BBCALBARangers midfielder Tessel Middag looks ahead to the @SWPL fixture against Celtic in half-time feature.
Tuilleadh bho @tesselmiddag leth-ùine sa gheam. https://t.co/TIYIhRYRxB pic.twitter.com/Q6rPDGFv9m— BBC ALBA (@bbcalba) November 25, 2022
Pre-Match Media Conferences
Celtic FC Women manager Fran Alonso and Celtic defender Caitlin Hayes both spoke to the media at Celtic Park yesterday after, with the Celtic Star in attendance. Watch the two videos below.
This is the Day. This is the Day….COYGIG
Saturday night fever 🔥
It's Derby Day in Glasgow…🍀
🏆 SWPL
🆚 Rangers
🏟 Broadwood Stadium
🕔 5:15pm
📺 @bbcalba #RANCEL | #SWPL | #COYGIG pic.twitter.com/Hkwe3yaMae— Celtic FC Women (@CelticFCWomen) November 26, 2022
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