Rangers v Celtic Betting Preview : New season - Old Firm

Last Updated : 18th September, 2017 By Harvey T

VENUE

Ibrox Stadium, Glasgow

TIME

Kick off at 12pm 23rd September

BROADCAST

Live on Sky Sports

See Stats

It's one of the great occasisons in the British football calendar as Rangers and Celtic meet in one of the World's fiercest and most bitterly contested derby matches. The two will go toe-to-toe for the first time this season on Saturday at Ibrox with the Gers reeling after the last meeting there. Can the home side get their revenge or will Celtic's long unbeaten run continue? Our preview looks ahead to the first Old Firm match of the season.

Can Rangers pull this off?

For Rangers and Pedro Caixinha, a win on Saturday lunchtime would be a monumental boost in their season. They have made a decent start to the campaign but after their humiliation in the Europa League qualifiers and an early league defeat at home to Hibs, there are still question marks over Caixinha's suitability for the job. They have remained inconsistent in during the Portuguese boss' tenure so far and they looked shaky at the back last time out against Partick Thistle. Rangers are faring well going forward, in particularly with Colombian striker Alfredo Morelos who has proved an inspirational signing. The 21-year-old has six goals in six league games for the club and eight overall in the early stages of his Gers career so there is promise with the side going forward. When you consider their top scorer in the league last season was Kenny Miller with 11 strikes, it's a stark improvement.

Defensively however question marks remain and the 2-2 draw with Partick demonstrated that. Despite the high-profile arrival of Portuguese international Bruno Alves, they still look susceptible at the back especially in their positional play. Things will not be helped by the fact they will be without captain Lee Wallace for the visit of Celtic after he picked up a groin injury in the game with Partick. 

This encounter is likely to be as much about mentality for Rangers as anything else. The scars of last season will still be raw when Celtic won 5-1 at Ibrox, their biggest ever victory on Rangers' territory. How will the Blues respond? And can their new look attack trouble Celtic's backline? What ever happens, they cannot afford another performance like the game in April.

Rangers are 29/10 to beat Celtic with Skybet (£20 Free Bet)

Return of Dembele

Ater being humbled 5-0 by Paris Saint-Germain in Europe last week, Celtic got back to winning ways with a 4-0 victory over Ross County at the weekend. Brendan Rodgers' side were comfortable winners and moved two points clear at the top of the table after Aberdeen could only muster a draw at home to Kilmarnock. The game was also notable for the return of Moussa Dembele, who marked his return from a hamstring injury with a goal. The Frenchman partened Leigh Griffiths upfront as Rodgers deployed a 3-4-1-2 formation and it will be interesting to see how the Ulsterman sets-up for the trip to Ibrox.

The 5-1 scoreline in April suggests that Celtic needn't worry too much defensively but things have of course changed since then. As earlier mentioned, Rangers look much more potent going forward and Rodgers has already said that Dembele will only start if he is deemed 100% fit. A much more likely scenario is Griffiths starting up front on his own with Tom Rogic behind with Dembele an option from the bench.

Celtic are currently on a 55-game unbeaten run in the league and would love to extend that at Ibrox. At this early stage of the campaign, a draw would not even be the worst result in the World but they will be going all out for victory. A win would further pile the pressure on Rangers and as demonstrated last season, there is still a sizeable gap between the sides.

Moussa Dembele is 11/8 to score at anytime with Coral (£20 Free Bet)

FREEbets.org.uk Tips

It would be a serious surprise if Rangers were not far more competitive than when these two sides last met at Ibrox. A defeat in the manner of that 5-1 would see serious questions asked of Pedro Caixinha so he simply cannot for that to happen. We see this game being tighter and going forward Rangers have shown they can find the back of the net. We like the look of goals in the game so exploring the over 2.5 and perhaps even 3.5 markets should be considered as well as both teams to score. Ulimately however we believe Celtic's class will prevail and we back them to get the three points.

Get odds of 13/5 on Celtic to win and both teams to score with William Hill (£30 Free Bet)