Rangers vs Celtic

The atmosphere is gradually rising for the highly anticipated Old Firm clash between Rangers and Celtic as William Hill Scottish Premiership football encounter is scheduled for January 2 at 3 p.m., live on Sky Sports Football. If you want to place your bet with Paddy Power place your order here otherwise continue below for our analysis and tips regarding this bitter rivals.

While the title race may not be very intense and coming into this encounter they will be the champions, the sheer fact that it is Old Firm means we are at Ibrox and so Rangers will have to be at their best. Rangers had seemed to be on an upward trend before the Scottish League Cup final last month in which they competed so hard against Celtic. The match was tied 3-3 after a 30 minutes of extra time, however Celtic emerged 5-4 winners after a penalty shootout.

As per as the defending method is concerned, the Light Blues could have to do some major revamping in order to contain the swirling Scottish Celtic’s attack line as two main defenders namely James Tavernier and John Souttar are not available for the game.

However, since the provided nail-biting encounter Rangers have been pale shadows of the team, securing only a 1-0 win against Dundee while suffering from St Mirren and drawing with Motherwell.
On the other hand, Celtic team has Brendan Rodgers as its manager, a man who has privileges of choosing from a pool of talent flood full of attacking midfielders . Peep forwards like Kyogo Furuhashi, you rely on him, and he probably is the most outstanding player in the league; Nicolas Kuhn, Arne Engels, Reo Hatate, and Callum McGregor, and the Bhoys are always on the attack.

In their previous two meetings this season, the home team of Rangers conceded six goals by Celtic; the team Rangers was thrashed 3-0 by Celtic in a league match and Celtic and Rangers were 3-3 in the Cup final match. What Rangers would find very difficult to deal with is such a spirited attack formation.

Just two weeks after their historic match in the Scottish League Cup final, Rangers and Celtic square off in the most recent Old Firm derby this afternoon.

A little more than two weeks ago, Celtic won 5-4 on penalties at Hampden Park following a thrilling 3-3 draw. Now, the two fierce rivals from Glasgow will face off again in the Scottish Premiership, this time at Ibrox.

The first game of 2025 will see the struggling hosts play Celtic, who are 14 points behind the league leaders, putting additional pressure on manager Philippe Clement.

In contrast, Celtic, led by Brendan Rodgers, are once again confident after winning consecutive games 4-0 and going without a league loss since November.

Jack Butland, Rangers' first-choice goalie, was hospitalized for treatment of an internal bleeding injury in his leg. On Thursday, Liam Kelly will fill in between the posts.

In addition to missing captain James Tavernier, John Souttar, and Neraysho Kasanwirjo, Clement is dealing with a defensive injury problem. Another major question mark for the game is Leon Balogun.
Despite Clement's worries about weariness, Hamza Igamane will undoubtedly start the derby after coming off the bench to help Rangers salvage a point in their most recent 2-2 draw with Motherwell. Another replacement at Fir Park, Vaclav Cerny, is probably going to be selected for Ibrox.