DomainJava.com – Rangers vs Celtic prediction in Scottish Premier match, Rangers and Celtic will face off at Ibrox in the 444th Old Firm derby in the first round of 2025 Scottish Premiership matches on Thursday.
It's only been a fortnight since Celtic beat their Glasgow rivals in the League Cup final on penalties, and the visitors went on to take home the Premiership title.
After losing 3-0 in the first Old Firm derby of the season at Celtic Park, Rangers hit back with a scintillating performance that saw them edge closer to Brendan Rodgers' side, and make huge progress in Europe.
A big win at Nice, a draw with Tottenham Hotspur and emphatic wins over Kilmarnock and St Mirren had Rangers fans re-energized, even though the title seemed out of reach.
They had a chance to make amends early in the League Cup final, but after losing on penalties, their season fell apart again.
Philippe Clement's side won narrowly over Dundee a few days later, but since Christmas, they have lost to St Mirren and were lucky to get a point at Fir Park against Motherwell at the weekend.
Rangers were 2-0 down at the break, and Jack Butland was very fortunate to have his own goal disallowed for a minor foul by the referee, before they were able to recover and equalize at 2-2.
However, it means the gap between them and Celtic is widening, with an almost uncatchable 14 points gap after only half the season.
To make matters worse ahead of the biggest game of the season, defeat in the League Cup final means Rangers have now won just one of the last 17 Old Firm derbies.
That will be music to the ears of Celtic, who continued their relatively easy march towards the title with a second successive 4-0 win at the weekend.
St Johnstone were the victims this time, after Celtic also inflicted the same score on Motherwell on Boxing Day, meaning they have now kept 15 clean sheets in 18 Premier League games this season.
It has now been more than nine hours since Kasper Schmeichel's goal was conceded, with Rodgers' back line conceding just four goals so far this season.
With a strong attack that has scored 52 goals, it also means they remain unbeaten, and have dropped just four points, reaching the half-century mark with Sunday's win.
The depth of their squad will be important in the coming weeks, as despite having six games before then, all eyes will be on the Champions League clash against Young Boys, after this trip across Glasgow.
Rodgers has five league games in 12 days, and the start of the Scottish Cup before welcoming the Swiss champions to Celtic Park at the end of the month in a must-win game.
After a poor defensive performance at Motherwell, Rangers boss Clement is hopeful Leon Balogun will return soon after he picked up an injury at St Mirren on Boxing Day.
Rabbi Matondo returned after a long absence at the weekend, making a brief 25-minute appearance, but Tom Lawrence, Neraysho Kasanwirjo and John Souttar remain absent for the hosts here.
Hamza Igamane is certain to return to the team after scoring both goals in his comeback from the bench at the weekend, and after assisting the second of those two goals, Ridvan Yilmaz will look to make up for his missed penalty in the cup final.
Celtic full-back Alistair Johnston recovered from a brief injury to start the win over St Johnstone at the weekend, meaning James Forrest and Odin Thiago Holm will be the only players absent here.
Only Sam Dalby has scored more Premiership goals than Kyogo Furuhashi's eight this season, and the Japanese forward is also the Old Firm's third highest goalscorer this century (also with eight goals), after Henrik Larsson and Kenny Miller.
Despite playing five times in 12 days, rotation will be postponed as Rodgers will almost certainly field his strongest squad for this match..(ed)
(source: Sportsmole)
Rangers vs Celtic Player Predictions
Rangers: Butland; Tavernier, Sterling, Balogun, Yilmaz; Diomande, Raskin; Cerny, Bajrami, Hagi; Igamane
Celtic :Schmeichel; Johnston, Carter-Vickers, Trusty, Taylor; Paulo Bernardo, McGregor, Hatate; Kuhn, Kyogo, Maeda
Rangers vs Celtic Score Prediction: 1-2
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