CELTIC and Rangers meet in the first Old Firm Scottish Cup Final for 22 years at Hampden.
And there's little doubt all the momentum appears to be the Hoops after they clinched their 12th title in 13 years last week and were presented with the trophy at the weekend as their much-changed line-up saw off St Mirren.
Brendan Rodgers' side have hit form at just the right time and timed their winning run to perfection having won their last six league games. It wasn't always the case though and they've had their fair share of criticism.
But for Rangers, you would struggle to find a fan who actually believes they can win in Glasgow's south side after numerous big game flops against their biggest rivals.
Their bottle seemed to crash at the wrong time, their mentality is in serious question, their manager's tactics and selection picks are highly questionable and they have a huge injury list to content with.
But of course, the old adage with the Old Firm is that form goes out the window in a one-off game.
How the bookies view it: Celtic strong favourites
Celtic have been steadily backed all week. They started off at 23/20, but that's gone and they are now odds-on at 10/11. Rangers have drifted to 11/4 and the draw is 13/5.
Recent head to heads: Celtic hugely hold upper hand
The sides have met four times this season in the league and Rangers have collected just one point and even them it took an injury time leveller to get it.
Rangers have won just one out of their last 11 meetings and that was a meaningless game when the league had already been won by Celtic last season.
Players to watch: Matt finish
Matt O'Riley has been in sensational form recently for Celtic. The Danish international has scored in seven of his last nine games and netted eight times in that period including against Rangers earlier this month. He is 13/5 to score anytime and that will be a very popular bet.
Cyriel Dessers misses so many chances for Rangers and yet has still scored 23 goals for the club in all competitions, including in the last Old Firm game. He is 10/3 to net, with both prices with bet365.
Probable line-ups:
Celtic seem too be at full strength for this one, but that's far from the case for Rangers. They will leave it to the last minute to check on the fitness of Leon Balogun, Borna Barisic, Rabbi Matondo, Abdallah Sima, John Souttar and Ridvan Yilmaz in addition to long term absentees like Connor Goldson and Danilo.
Celtic: Hart, Johnstone, Carter-Vickers, Scales, Taylor, O'Riley, McGregor, Hatate, Forrest, Furuhashi, Maeda.
Rangers: Butland, Tavernier, Davies, Balogun, Barisic, Lundstram, Sterling, Cantwell, Diomande, Silva, Dessers.
Anything else catch the eye:
It's very, very hard to make a case for anything other than a convincing win for the Scottish champions here. Rangers are ravaged with injury doubts, but even a fully-fit Ibrox side would struggle to contain a Celtic team flying at the moment.
And this Rangers team seems terrified of them.
Unless Philippe Clement can somehow find a way to stop the likes of Matt O'Riley and Callum McGregor having the freedom of Hampden Park, it could get messy for them.
However, Rangers always have goals in them so, as well as a Celtic win, the call is once again a Celtic win and both teams to score which came up again this month and had happened in three of Celtic's last four Old Firm league wins at a chunky 11/4 with bet365.
Celtic tend to start very quickly and impose themselves in these games. In fact, in five of the last six games against Rangers, they have been leading at half time. Back Celtic to win half time and full time at 15/8.
This Scottish Cup match between Celtic and Rangers will be played on May 25, 2024 and kick off at 15:00. Check below for our tipsters best Celtic vs Rangers prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
