CELTIC and Rangers meet in the second Old Firm showdown of the season at Parkhead of the season on Saturday.
And the Ibrox club have managed to get a few extra days to prepare than Celtic after their midweek game against Ross County was called off because the Dingwall club were struggling to travel to Glasgow.
Celtic will have 60,000 fans behind them with no away fans in Parkhead, but as Rangers found out in the opening meeting of the season, that can be a major hindrance in this fixture too. These are probably the most self-entitled, impatient and critical bunch of fans anywhere in the world. It applies to both sets of suppporters.
Momentum has definitely shifted to Rangers after a long unbeaten run and it's been all the more impressive given the injuries they have had. With Connor Goldson being added to the list, they probably won't have been too unhappy at the postponement to give them an extra few days to recover than Celtic, who played on Boxing Day.
The Hoops have looked disjointed, vulnerable and out-of-sorts on numerous occasions this season and back-to-back defeats at Kilmarnock and at home to Hearts provoked almost full-on mutiny.
Yet they are due to give someone a hammering soon – they create a ridiculous amount of chances – and looked like they were back to their best at Dundee, encouragingly for their fans and backers.
How the bookies view it
Celtic are favourites here at 23/20 with McBookie.com. Rangers will have their backers at 11/5 with Paddy Power. The draw is 13/5 with bet365.
Recent head to heads
Rangers never turned up really in the only Old Firm meeting of the season so far when Celtic won 1-o at Ibrox. Last season, the rivals met six times and Celtic won four of them. In fact, Rangers' only win came when the league had already been won.
Players to watch
Kyogo Furuhashi has been nowhere near the form he produced last season and the Japanese international has not reached anything approaching his capabilities this season. But he has scored six goals in ten appearances against Rangers and this game brings out the best in him. He is 7/4 to score anytime with William Hill.
Abdallah Sima has probably been Rangers' best outfield player this season and the on-loan Brighton star is 31/10 to score on Saturday with BetVictor.
Anything else catch the eye?
Celtic have been below par recently and Rangers have won seven games in a row so in typical Old Firm logic, the obvious call is…a home win!
There are reasons for this however. Rangers have been getting by recently with a lot of injuries and it has to catch up with them some time soon. In particular, their midfield looks undercooked for a game of this importance.
Celtic can't keep missing the chances they create, but it will click for them and it could even be this week. And although Furuhashi is on the cold list, nothing sparks him to life more than an Old Firm game.
The Hoops racked up a quite incredible 23 corners on their own at Dundee and while they will obviously get nowhere near that against Rangers, they should collect a few here. Back them -1 on the corners handicap at 20/21 with bet365.
Todd Cantwell will be the subject of derision here and he tends to struggle to keep a lid on it. He looks the banker bet to be booked at 5/4 with bet365.
This Scottish Premiership match between Celtic and Rangers will be played on Dec 30, 2023 and kick off at 12:30. 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.
