Venue: Ibrox Stadium, Glasgow Date: Saturday, 13 May Time: 12:30 BST |
Coverage: Listen live on BBC Radio Scotland Extra & BBC Sounds and follow all the action on the BBC Sport website & app |
The destiny of the Scottish Premiership has already been settled as champions Celtic prepare to visit Rangers in the season’s final Old Firm derby.
The title was clinched with Celtic’s 2-0 win at Hearts on Sunday but has long been in the making.
Ange Postecoglou’s side were five points ahead after beating Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s Rangers 4-0 in September and preserved a nine-point advantage by coming back to secure a 2-2 draw in Michael Beale’s first derby in charge in January.
Celtic then won the next three meetings across the three different domestic competitions to canter further towards a treble.
With Rangers assured second place and bound for the Champions League third qualifying round next season – hoping to join their city rivals in the group stage – is Saturday’s game a dead rubber? And what could it tell onlookers about next season?
Derby ‘important to everybody’ in Glasgow
Having been part of Steven Gerrard’s Rangers coaching team for more than three years and then returning to the club as manager last year, Beale is well versed in the derby.
“This game focuses your attention because you live in a city where this game is usually important to everybody,” said the Englishman.
“The players are aware that they would like to give their fans something to hold on to over the summer. It would mean a lot. There should be a lot of energy and excitement towards this game from my team.”
‘No edge in terms of next year’
Ange Postecoglou will next season have the opportunity to emulate predecessors Neil Lennon and Gordon Strachan and win three successive Scottish top-flight titles, something which eluded Martin O’Neill.
However, the Australian does not expect Saturday’s game to have an impact on the new campaign.
“Our goal every year is to be champions,” he said. “Within that, you have these individual contests that you also know are important and significant to the club. Every derby is that kind of game.
“I don’t think it gives you any sort of significant edge in terms of next year. We just want to finish the season strong and it’s a chance to have a look at a couple of things as well from a team perspective building into next year.”
Team news
Robby McCrorie will continue in goal for Rangers after making his first appearance of the season last week against Aberdeen and midfielder Ryan Jack returns to the squad. Borna Barisic, Antonio Colak, Ben Davies, Steven Davis, Filip Helander, Tom Lawrence and Kemar Roofe are all out.
Winger James Forrest has returned to training at Celtic and should be available while midfielder Aaron Mooy may also return. Defenders Cameron Carter-Vickers and Alistair Johnston are out.
Choose your starting XI. It’s up to you how to approach it – you could go for the team you WANT the manager to pick or the one you THINK he will.
Choose your starting XI. It’s up to you how to approach it – you could go for the team you WANT the manager to pick or the one you THINK he will.
Match stats
- Beale could become the first Rangers manager to fail to win one of his first five Old Firm derbies since Graeme Murty and the first to lose four consecutive such games since Alex McLeish
- Rangers have not beaten their Glasgow rivals in more than a year and have not beaten them at Ibrox since August 2021
- Celtic have beaten Rangers in all three domestic competitions this season
- Postecoglou has a 60% win ratio in matches against Rangers
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