MY thoughts on Saturday's Old Firm derby have been made clear. I've been debating this game all week and Celtic started out evens but are now a best 3-4 with Coral and as short as 8-11 at McBookie.
Rangers are 4-1 at William Hill while the draw is 3-1 with Betfred. At those prices Gers can back their favourites at 5-4 with bet365 to avoid defeat.
I reckon Celtic will win by two or three – maybe 3-1. Two bets I posted online last Sunday were Celtic -1 and Celtic to score 3+. They still stand but the prices have gone from 12-5 to 19-10 (McBookie) and 13-5 to 9-4 (Betfred).
Bruno Alves is a question mark for Rangers and Declan John will stand in for Leigh Wallace. In attack Pedro Caixinha has to choose between Kenny Miller and Carlos Pena and it's possible he will have seven or eight players making their Old Firm debut which for me is a concern.
Miller's experience could be needed and while Pena scored and showed some nice touches on the Betfred Cup win against Partick Thistle he looked off the pace at times.
Celtic have no such problems and if Olivier Ntcham starts he'll be the only one who hasn't experienced this crazed atmosphere. Moussa Dembele returned for an hour last Saturday and scored but wasn't involved in midweek so that suggests to me he isn't ready to play tomorrow.
Dedryck Boyata returned to centre-half against Dundee on Wednesday so Celtic's defensive problems are easing.
I'll post a full preview tonight but here are some thoughts and prices from Scots firm McBookie.
They are offering 3-1 Celtic will win the first three Old Firm league games of the season while Rangers are 100-1.
Paul Petrie, McBookie.com spokesman, said: “Celtic had the bragging rights last season and it is no surprise they are favourites to enjoy more derby success this year. However, Rangers will be more determined than ever to end Celtic’s unbeaten run and it promises to be a fascinating game.”
It is 66-1 Celtic win 5-1 as they did twice last season while a 1-0 win for Rangers is 17-1.
Selected Correct Scores
13/1 Rangers 2-1, 17/1 Rangers 1-0, 30/1 Rangers 2-0
15/2 Celtic 2-1, 17/2 Celtic 1-0, 19/2 Celtic 2-0
Selected First Scorers
14/5 L Griffiths, 4/1 M Dembele, 11/2 S Sinclair, 13/2 A Morelos, 8/1 K Miller, 12/1 S Armstrong, 14/1 G Dorrans.
Selected First Card
17/2 F Cardoso, 19/2 B Alves, 10/1 S Brown, 12/1 R Jack, 13/1 A Morelos, 14/1 A Ralston, 15/1 L Griffiths.
Recommended Bets
- Celtic -1
- Celtic to score 3+
Resident football tipster at Scotland's most read newspaper, the Daily Record, for over 20 years and proud host of one the best betting communities on the web with daily betting tips.
Been waiting for this aw week ?
Just be careful what you say. It’s not an Old Firm forum so don’t look for a fight on here.
Alves This is not our most important game this week, despite how it feels now ,any result will not disguise the fact we are head and shoulders above anybody in Scotland but still short in Europe ,a win over Rangers means very little but a win over Anderlecht is progress.