The fourth meeting of Celtic and Rangers is just around the corner and, if the previous three are anything to go by, it could be a long afternoon for Rangers.
Celtic have won both Premiership meetings and the League Cup semi-final between the two, but do the team from Govan have a chance on Sunday?
Our writers give their verdicts...
Celtic 3 Rangers 0, says Alison McConnell
Can’t see it being anything other than a straightforward win for Brendan Rodgers’ side. Rangers are heading into the game almost beaten before a ball has been kicked such is the chasm between the sides in the league.
Sunday afternoon’s game brings their limp title challenge to a formal end and there is scant evidence to suggest that the Ibrox side can raise their game going to Celtic Park. Beyond that, this is a Celtic side that have shown this season that they are always capable of turning it up a notch if and when they are not finding their groove.
Similarly, Moussa Dembele has proved to be handful on every occasion he has played Rangers. Having hit a purple patch since the break in Dubai, there is every chance the French striker will maintain his perfect record against Rangers.
Celtic 2 Rangers 1, says Chris Jack
The bookies are rarely wrong and the fact that Rangers are widely considered a 7/1 shot to win at Parkhead says it all. The odds are stacked against Graeme Murty and his players, and rightly so. The Gers were better in the Hogmanay clash but Celtic were still too good. Even if Murty can inspire his side to raise their game once again, it is unlikely to be enough to clinch a shock derby win. With a new boss to impress and a point to prove, there is plenty at stake for Rangers. It will surely be Celtic that claim the Old Firm bragging rights once again, though.
Celtic 4 Rangers 0, says Neil Cameron
I honestly can’t remember, in all my years of watching this game, a potentially more one-sided match.
The only chance Rangers have of escaping with anything is to fight, scrap and defend with their lives from the first to last minute. When was the last time they did this?
Celtic are a far better side, they are at home and have a manager – and a captain for that matter - who won’t allow anyone to take half an eye off the ball. I fear for Rangers. It’s time some of the players turned up.
For Rangers to get a draw, they will need to score twice. I just can’t see anything other than Celtic coasting it.
Celtic 3 Rangers 1, says Matthew Lindsay
I would anticipate Rangers performing better against Celtic than they did on the last occasion they visited Parkhead in September - due largely to the players their caretaker manager Graeme Murty will select in midfield.
Mark Warburton went with Joey Barton and Niko Kranjcar, two ageing players who were desperately short of match fitness, in that Ladbrokes Premiership match and paid the price.
However, Murty can field the highly impressive Emerson Hyndman and Jon Toral in the centre of the park this time around. The visitors should compete better as a direct result of that.
But I still can’t see their defence coping with the firepower which Brendan Rodgers has at his disposal. I expect Moussa Dembele, Leigh Griffiths and Scott Sinclair to prove too much of a handful for the Rangers backline.
Celtic 3 Rangers 1, says Nick Rodger
According to some fevered observers, poor auld Rangers are going to be on the receiving end of the kind of hammering they used to dole out on the rivets in the Govan shipyards. Hysterical talk of Celtic banging in seven or eight have been flying about but, then, these Glasgow encounters never did promote calm, considered reason.
If I hear the words “and Dembele makes it six” then I’ll start garnishing my hat to eat it.
Rangers have won just two of their last eight on the road and their away record against teams in the top four this season is dreadful. It won’t improve this weekend.
Celtic 2 Rangers 0, says Graeme McGarry
The Rangers players shouldn’t need any extra motivation for such a tie, but the possible presence of Pedro Caixinha at Celtic Park will probably give them even further incentive to impress as they are quite literally playing for their futures.
They will have to work harder and run further than Celtic to stand any chance, but alas, that will still not be enough for them.
This Celtic side do not only possess the superior quality, but they fully subscribe to the old adage that hard work only beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.
Therefore, no quarter will be given on their relentless march towards the treble, and Rangers will do well to come away with a narrow defeat. Such are the shifting expectations from the past, most Rangers fans would probably take that right now.
Celtic 4, Rangers 1, says Graeme Macpherson
Teams have been trying all season long to find Celtic’s equivalent of Kryptonite. If there are weaknesses in the Parkhead side’s make-up then none have proved fatal as yet. Rangers will be desperate to be the ones to hand a first domestic defeat of the season to their oldest rivals and their performance for the opening 30 minutes of the derby at Ibrox on Hogmanay will give them some hope. But Celtic are a relentless force who always find a way to get the job done. They will do so here again with a bit to spare.
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