Celtic v Rangers

The Scottish Premiership title might have long been decided in Celtic’s favour, but don’t expect any of the spice of the Old Firm rivalry to be lost as they travel to face Rangers at Ibrox on Sunday.

 Although the visiting side are chasing down a treble, they have a score to settle in this clash after losing each of the last couple of encounters between the clubs. A third successive defeat would smart and would take just a little of the satisfaction away from what has been another dominant season.

 For Rangers, this will be about restoring a little respectability to their campaign, with interim boss Barry Ferguson having gone 5 long games without seeing his side win.

⭐ Rangers v Celtic Best Bet

Maeda has been red-hot in recent weeks, benefiting from the departure of Kyogo Furuhashi to Rennes in the winter transfer window. In Premiership matches in 2025, he has at least 1 goal or assist in 11 of the 12 games he has started.

The Japanese has a strong record against Rangers this season, too. He has three goals and one assist against the Gers in the four matches they have played this term across all competitions.

He might have failed to net on his previous trip to Ibrox, but he should be in the thick of the action here.

👕 Rangers v Celtic Predicted XI

🔍 Rangers v Celtic Players to Watch

🔵 Vaclav Cerny

Cerny is a big price to have a couple of efforts given that he ranks joint-3rd in the Premiership when it comes to shots attempted this season with 82. This translates to 3.42 per 90.

Although the winger has been carrying a knock in recent weeks, he was nursed against St Mirren last time out with an eye to playing as much of this game as possible. He will likely be deployed in an attacking role alongside Cyriel Dessers.

He had four shots in his only previous Ibrox outing against Celtic.

🔵 Mohamed Diomande

Diomande is a player who has already shown that he loves playing Celtic. The midfielder only has ten shots on target in the league this season, but has scored two goals in his last three Old Firm matches.

He operated just behind the strikers last weekend against St Mirren, and given the physical qualities that he brings to Rangers, could be Barry Ferguson’s preferred option to fill that role once again during this encounter.

A strong-running midfielder, he is well suited to the type of attacking in transition that Rangers will likely do here.

🟢 Reo Hatate

Hatate had a big impact in the previous Old Firm game, scoring one goal while offering four shots, two of which found the target. He was the most dangerous player for the Hoops against the way in which Ferguson’s Rangers set up.

Although Callum McGregor will be back for Celtic in this match, this is only likely to enhance the attacking role the 27-year-old Japanese midfielder has.

 Hatate has had 2.79 shots per 90 this season and 0.74 shots on target per 90, while he has had five shots on target in his last five starts.

📂 Rangers v Celtic Cheat Sheet

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💻 Celtic v Rangers Form and Tactics

Rangers may have failed to win in their last 5 games in all competitions, but the statistic Gers fans will be looking at prior to this clash is victories in each of the last 2 games against Celtic: a 3-0 win at Ibrox followed by a 3-2 success at Celtic Park.

The Gers have been crushed by their rivals over the course of the season as a whole, but they hold a dominant in the head-to-head against Brendan Rodgers’ side over the last six months. Much of this owes to having a group of players better accomplished at playing on the counterattack than breaking deep-lying defences down.

This was illustrated the last time these sides met. Rangers had just 28% of the ball but looked comfortable when playing on the counter.

Interim boss Barry Ferguson has switched to a using three centre-backs, but this change has done his side little good. Rangers have conceded at least 2 goals in 7 of their last 8 matches. Meanwhile, they have been shutout in 3 of their last 5 – a toxic combination.

Injuries have certainly played their part, with key man Vaclav Cerny carrying a knock in recent times. The winger has 11 goals and 2 assists in the Premiership this season and was benched last weekend to nurse his problem.

Cyriel Dessers, meanwhile, continues to be a maligned figure but the Nigeria international striker has returned 13 league goals at a rate of 0.66 per 90 minutes. He has not scored against Celtic this season and indeed neither has Cerny. Instead, midfielder Mohamed Diomande and Danilo each have 2.

Celtic arrive at Ibrox as Scotland’s dominant force, boasting a 17-point advantage over their opponents in the standings. Rodgers has seen his side score an incredible 102 goals this season – 3.0 per game – while they have conceded only 22, accumulating an incredible goal difference of +80.

Unsurprisingly, the Hoops lead the Premiership in all significant categories, with Daizen Maeda joint top in both goals (16) and assists (9).

The Japan international has been in excellent touch since being handed the brunt of the attacking responsibility following the January sale of Kyogo Furuhashi, who was so often a thorn in Rangers’ side. Maeda has a goal or an assist in 11 of his last 12 league starts and has scored in 3 of the 4 clashes against Rangers in all competitions.

They lead Rangers marginally in terms of both shots (642-630) and shots on target (245-223) but have proven to be far more efficient than their rivals in front of goal. Similarly, they only concede marginally fewer efforts on target (98-102) but give up many fewer goals.

One area where Celtic do have a clear advantage over Rangers is the card count. The Hoops have seen 30 cards this season (all yellow) whereas their rivals have been awarded 68. Interestingly, the foul count is not wildly different, with the Hoops committing 318 in comparison to the Light Blues’ 368.

🏁 Celtic v Rangers Ref Watch

• Referee - Nick Walsh

• Walsh has handed out 185 cards in 40 matches this season at a rate of 4.63 per game, including 14 reds at 0.35 per game.

• He has awarded 8 penalties this season – 0.2 per game.

• Has awarded 22.77 fouls per match in Scotland’s top-flight.

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* We recommend waiting for confirmed team line-ups before placing any bets.

* All odds displayed correct at the time of publishing.