Key events
A quick look at the SPL table with kick-off just under an hour away. Rangers can pull level with Celtic on 38 points with a win.
Incidentally, Celtic remains favourites to win the title despite their recent blips. Current odds: 10/11 Celtic, 15/8 Hearts, 4/1 Rangers.
Sky Sports going with a ‘Stranger Things’-themed intro to reflect the rather odd seasons both Old Firm sides have endured. I need my daughter in the room to get some of the references.
Celtic make three changes from their woeful 2-0 defeat against Motherwell last time. But there’s only a place on the bench for new signing Julian Araujo, who has joined on loan from Bournemouth. Celtic bring in Arne Engels, Luke McCowan and Johnny Kenny from the team that lost at Fir Park while Liam Scales, Paulo Bernardo and Reo Hatate move to the bench.
Rangers boss Danny Röhl makes two changes from the side that edged out Kilmarnock 2-1. Skipper James Tavernier and Mohamed Diomande are named among the substitutes as in come Dujon Sterling and Connor Barron.
Starting lineups
The team sheets are in. Here are you starting XIs.
Celtic: Schmeichel, Ralston, Trusty, Tierney, Yang, McGregor, Engels, McCowan, Nygren, Maeda, Kenny.
Subs: Sinisalo, Scales, Yamada, Araujo, Bernardo, Hatate, Murray, Forrest, Donovan.
Rangers: Butland, Sterling, Souttar, Fernandez, Meghoma, Barron, Raskin, Aasgaard, Moore, Gassama, Chermiti.
Subs: Kelly, Nsiala, Aarons, Tavernier, Curtis, Dowell, Diomande, Miovski, Danilo.
It’s a chilly one degree at Celtic Park today although the ‘feels like’ thermometer symbol shows -3. Then again, in Ohio, where Wilfried Nancy previously managed Columbus Crew, it’s -7 (no higher than -3 all day) so he clearly moved to Glasgow for the weather.
Preamble
There’s nothing unusual about Celtic and Rangers being separated by just three points ahead of a New Year’s Old Firm derby. But it is far from the norm to see respective points tallies of 38 (Celtic) and 35 (Rangers) with 19 games gone. Those wobbles have allowed Hearts (41 points) to take charge at the top of the table and the leaders should bank another win when they host bottom club Livingston tomorrow.
Rangers fans will wonder how they’re in a title race after the woeful start under Russell Martin but the baton of despair has now been handed to Celtic’s supporters, who have watched the upturn under stand-in boss Martin O’Neill completely evaporate since the appointment of Wilfried Nancy. The Frenchman has suffered five defeats in his opening seven games – unthinkable at Celtic – and another loss here could be catostrophic.
Unusual times then although some things never change in an Old Firm fixture. Glasgow braces itself. Ex-pats all around the world don either green or blue. Kick-off at Celtic Park is 12.30pm GMT.
