Alan Hansen’s SPL Preview: Rangers v Celtic

The Old Firm clash for the 3rd time this season this coming weekend at Ibrox. These derbies are always massive occasions but this one has the added importance of going some way to determining the destination of the SPL title. Walter Smith’s Rangers team are 7 points clear of their rivals and have the added bonus of a game in hand. Realistically Celtic need to win this one but their form especially away from home is patchy to say the least.

Tony Mowbray managed to bring in a few new recruits in the January transfer window with loan signings Robbie Keane and Diomansy Kamara adding to the firepower at the club. Keane has begun to hit form as his match fitness has improved and three goals in his last four appearances for the Bhoys suggests he will be a threat to Rangers strong defensive unit. I am sure David Weir and co would prefer to play against a big target man rather than someone like Keane who is a clever player and will drop into holes and try to move the defenders around the park. However, the Gers are defending extremely well at the moment having kept eight clean-sheets in their last ten matches in all competitions so Robbie will have his work cut out to get on the score-sheet.

No visiting team has managed to score against Rangers in their last four matches in all competitions at Ibrox and no domestic side has been able to beat them at all this season, so Celtic will need to pull something special out of the bag this weekend. Smith’s team have won 13 of their sixteen domestic home games which includes a 2-1 win over Celtic back in October. The only teams to have managed to draw at Ibrox are Aberdeen, Hibernian and Hearts. Rangers have only conceded 15 league goals in 25 games this season and a mere 8 at home, the best overall defensive record and home defensive record in the SPL.

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In the past four seasons the Gers have dominated this fixture at Ibrox, an SPL record that includes five wins and just one defeat in seven Old Firm derbies. From those five wins, Rangers have kept four clean-sheets and with their current form, another shut-out wouldn’t be too much of a surprise.

Celtic did score a penalty in the earlier meeting at Ibrox but were two goals down within 16 minutes. Tony Mowbray’s team need to show far more defensive stability in this game. That may be a problem with the new additions made to the side and their lack of Old Firm match experience. Every player who I’ve spoken to that has played in this derby says it is unlike any other in terms of atmosphere, pace and competitiveness. Therefore, Rangers have a distinct advantage ahead of this game as they have a settled side who know what to expect this weekend; the same cannot be said of Celtic.

While Celtic have Keane and Diomansy, Rangers have the SPL record scorer Kris Boyd and Kenny Miller fit and available. Those two are the first and third top scorers in the SPL this season and will take some stopping. Boyd missed a few games through injury but has returned with three goals in the last three games. His record at Ibrox is superb this season too having scored in each of his last eight domestic games in front of the Gers faithful. In those eight games, Boyd has scored 14 goals including five against 4th placed Dundee United back in December.

Despite Boyd’s obvious scoring ability, his record against Celtic is surprisingly poor. He has scored just once in 21 career appearances against them for both Kilmarnock and Rangers. His solitary strike came in a 2-0 Gers home win in May 2007. He has failed to net in five Old Firm derbies since. Boyd’s strike partner Kenny Miller has a far better record since rejoining Rangers, with four goals in the last six Old Firm clashes.

Celtic are unbeaten in their last four matches in all competitions but this run pales in comparison to their rivals. Walter Smith’s team are unbeaten in their last 18 domestic matches, a record that includes 13 wins. Both teams will raise their games for this one and the addition of Keane to Celtic’s line-up will add more creativity to the away side but I don’t think that will be enough.

This will be a typical Old Firm derby, plenty of passion and determination but I just feel Rangers hold the advantage as they possess a stable team, have plenty of experience of this fixture and are in the best run of form. These derby clashes are notoriously hard to predict but I don’t think the Gers will lose a domestic match at home for the first time in almost a year. However, it’s worth noting that the last domestic defeat Rangers suffered at home was against this weekend’s opponents Celtic. With an estimated £30,000 Premier 10 jackpot to be won, I am backing a home win at Ibrox.

Tags: Alan Hansen, Celtic, Football betting, Football Pools, Old Firm, online betting, Online pools, Premier 10, Rangers, SPL

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 25th, 2010 at 14:48 and is filed under Features, Home Features. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.