Philippe Clement’s Rangers will, of course, be the underdogs when they take on runaway Premiership leaders Celtic in Sunday’s Scottish League Cup final.
But, with Rangers playing their best football of 2024/25, the odds on a victory this weekend are certainly a lot shorter now than they would have been, for example, when those on the blue side of Glasgow slipped up at Aberdeen a few weeks back.
Rangers won four games in a row, scoring 14 goals in the process, before Tottenham Hotspur arrived at Ibrox for Thursday’s Europa League ‘Battle of Britain’.
And while that winning run was broken by Dejan Kulusevski’s equaliser, Rangers outplayed Ange Postecoglou’s team for long spells. Hamza Igamane maintained his stunning form with another goal, while Nico Raskin and Ridvan Yilmaz earned Philippe Clement’s admiration following some tireless displays.
Rodgers tuned in to watch Sunday’s opponents in action.
And he knows that Clement’s team, particularly with confidence flowing, are likely to be far tougher opponents than they were back in September, when Daizen Maeda inspired a 3-0 win for Celtic.
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Brendan Rodgers impressed after watching Rangers vs Tottenham
“A Celtic [versus] Rangers final is a great occasion,” Rodgers tells reporters in his pre-match press conference. “And it’s at Hampden which is brilliant. But this the perspective is that it the next game, and the next game that we want to play well in and the next game that we want to win.
“I think I watched the game last night and I thought they did very well in the game. I thought it was a really good game to to watch.
“Rangers will want to bring the level that they been at over these last three, four games.”
Rangers will have revenge on their minds after losing to Brendan Rodgers’ green-clad team in the Scottish Cup final back in May. Adam Idah netted a dramatic stoppage time winner that day following a very rare Jack Butland blunder.
Rodgers is long enough in the tooth to know, meanwhile, that anything can happen on a one-off occasion such as this.
“We don’t expect us to ever to turn up and just think it’s a formality,” Rodgers adds. “It’s a final, so you don’t expect everything to go your way. It’s about preparing for and expecting that.
“It’s the first trophy of the season. We’ve had a brilliant season up until now and this will be a great way to have something tangible to show for that.”
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Philippe Clement concerned over Hamza Igamane and John Souttar
In a major boost to Celtic’s hopes, Rodgers confirmed that first-choice right-back Alistair Johnston is expected to be available following a recent injury scare. Clement, in contrast, is left sweating on the fitness of the free-scoring Igamane and his most consistent centre-half, John Souttar.
Both Igamene and Souttar picked up knocks against Tottenham.
“Your first question about John and Hamza, I cannot say anything for the moment, so it’s too close after the game,” Clement said when asked about the fitness of his star duo on Thursday night.
“I wish I could because that would ease my mind but it’s not the case. So, we will see in the next two days how it is with them. And, about freshness, we’re not going to think about that.”
