Celtic interim boss Martin O’Neill will take charge of what he expects to be his last Old Firm game against Rangers on Sunday, which the defending Scottish Premiership champions could begin six points adrift of surprise leaders Hearts.
Hearts took a huge step towards their first title since 1960, and the first non-Old Firm title since Aberdeen in 1985, with a 2-1 win over Rangers at Tynecastle last week.
That kept Derek McInnes’ side three points clear of Celtic, who edged to a 2-1 win over Hibernian, and left Rangers seven adrift with three games to play.
Hearts will look to pile the pressure on Celtic with a win at Motherwell on Saturday. Should they do so, then a Rangers win would leave the Edinburgh club needing just a point from their final two games against Celtic and Falkirk to claim the title.
Any dropped points by Hearts at Fir Park would raise the stakes for the Old Firm game and give both sides added incentive as they aim to keep their hopes alive in an absorbing three-way title race.
Regardless of Hearts’ result on Saturday, a win for Celtic would keep them on course for a decisive final-day clash with McInnes’ side. A Hearts win and a draw in the Old Firm game would give the leaders the chance to clinch the title at home with a victory against Falkirk on Wednesday.
Celtic have won the title in 13 of the last 14 seasons and O’Neill believes the Bhoys embracing their unfamiliar position of the hunter is crucial.
“It’s not a position that the football club has found itself in recent years,” O’Neill said of Celtic playing the role of chaser. “Generally speaking, they’ve gone clear and there’s been no opposition.
“There’s been plenty of opposition this year, not just from Rangers but obviously from Hearts.
“So it is a big, big change, not something that a number of these players have been used to. You have to get used to it. You’ve been chasing, you have to keep chasing.”
For Rangers, nothing other than a win will be good enough for their faint title hopes, though they will already be over if Hearts beat Motherwell. Even in that scenario, the visitors would be delighted to deal a potentially telling blow to Celtic’s prospects of defending the crown.
“It’s a special game for us,” Rangers boss Danny Rohl said.
“Nobody needs extra motivation to go in this game. We want to make our supporters and fans proud and that means we have to deliver on Sunday.”
Rohl has insisted he is committed to Rangers amid reported interest from Wolfsburg, and is seeking to turn the team into one that can dominate consistently after letting a lead slip against Hearts.
“A good process is not enough,” he explained. “We want to have titles and for this we have to change things. We set standards, but we have to increase the standards and if we do this, then we have a chance.
“If you look a little bit back and we are honest with each other, in the last 15 years we didn’t win what we should do.
“I think this is the big part we have to change. For this, we have to make a lot of things better.
“That starts to set the standards. I think in the last six months we improved the standards, higher and higher. In the last seven days, we couldn’t.
“I think this is a big part in our future. Set new standards and that means we have to change things in this building, this is crucial.
“We have to play not just 45 minutes good football and successful football, we have to change it to 90 minutes, to dominate the game and all those things.”
Team news for Celtic v Rangers
Celtic have a lengthy injury list, which features Colby Donovan (hamstring), Julian Araujo (thigh), Kasper Schmeichel (shoulder), Callum Osmand (hamstring), Adam Montgomery (calf), Cameron Carter-Vickers (Achilles) and Jota (knee ligaments).
Daizen Maeda limped off in last week’s win over Hibs but is fit to play.
Bailey Rice is Rangers’ only absentee, as he misses out with a muscle injury.
Predicted line-ups for Celtic v Rangers
Celtic: Sinisalo; Johnston, Trusty, Scales, Tierney; McGregor, Engels; Hyun-Jun, Nygren, Tounekti; Maeda.
Rangers: Butland; Tavernier, Djiga, Fernandez, Rommens; Chukwuani, Raskin; Gassama, Diomande, Aasgaard; Chermiti.
Where to watch Celtic v Rangers: TV and online streams
Celtic v Rangers kicks off at 12:00pm on Sunday. It will be broadcast on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Football. It will also be available to stream via Sky Go.
Stats for Celtic v Rangers
- Celtic are winless in six league meetings with Rangers (D3 L3). They last went longer without a victory in the Old Firm game from September 1995 to November 1997 (10).
- Rangers have prevailed on their past two league visits to Celtic, as many as their previous 19 beforehand (W2 D4 L13). They last won three consecutive league games at Celtic in November 1992 under Walter Smith.
- Celtic have won their last four league games. Their longest Premiership winning run this term is five matches, which came in O’Neill’s first spell in interim charge from October to December.
- Rangers have lost their last two league matches, as many as their previous 39 beforehand (W21 D16 L2). They have not lost three successive Premiership games since October 2000 under Dick Advocaat.
- Having guided Rangers to a 3-1 win at Celtic Park in January, Rohl could become only the second Gers boss to win his first two away league games at their arch rivals. He would follow in the footsteps of Smith (first three from 1991 to 1992).
Prediction for Celtic v Rangers
After seeing their title hopes severely dented last week, Rangers will be desperate to replicate their January win and do their best to deny Celtic the title. It seems more likely, though, that the two sides will cancel each other out.
Prediction: Celtic 2-2 Rangers
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