A pivotal Sunday in the Scottish Premiership as Rangers play host to Celtic at Ibrox.
The Old Firm
With the end of season split appearing on the horizon, who out of Rangers or Celtic will go into the final phase as league leaders?
Before The Split
As soon as Celtic got the better of Livingston last Sunday afternoon, the countdown to their trip to Rangers had begun. In fairness, the trip to the Tony Macaroni was nothing more than a hurdle in the way and the countdown had arguably started as soon as the international break began.
Now the days, hours and minutes are approaching seconds as the Hoops make the short journey across Glasgow to face their most-hated rivals and they do so with just a one-point lead at the top of the table.
A point in terms of profit but at the cost of having played a game more and if there was ever a way to frame the points versus games debate, then the example of how things are panning out in Scotland is arguably the perfect one.
Do you want to be the team that has the points and therefore asks questions of the team doing its best to hunt them down or do you want to be the team that has something of an insurance policy to potentially call upon? That is the question that supporters on both side of the divide are faced.
Then again, Rangers may not even need to activate that policy. The best way to go about that is by Philippe Clement’s men winning on home soil on Sunday and tilting the balance of power firmly over to the blue half of the city.
While it is not only wins on home soil that Rangers have been recording of late and with five wins from their last six league outings, it is only the surprise defeat at home to Motherwell which serves as a blot on their copybook.
A blot and also a missed opportunity to further turn the screw after Celtic lost at Hearts the week before. A game where Brendan Rodgers’ men would finish the game a man light and a game that was subsequently see the former Leicester boss pick up a one-match touchline ban.
One that Rodgers has now served after being banned from Celtic’s dugout on Sunday but even without his managerial nous being displayed from the sideline, Celtic’s display is what you would expect from a defending champion and more importantly, a champion hopeful.
Champion hopeful but far champion elect and although some observers were painting this title race as a one-horse entry before Christmas, the installation of Philippe Clement as Rangers manager has been a positive one for both his employers and those who follow this ongoing duel.
But now it is time for the first of my two tips and with Rangers having a game in hand, they do not have to win on Sunday in the grand scheme of things. As much as three points would be welcomed, I am going to split the difference on derby day and back the draw at odds of 13/5.
In addition to this, I am going to opt for a correct score pick as well and with both teams known for throwing caution to the wind. I think an entertaining 2-2 draw looks like decent value and that value is priced at 12/1.
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