The performance of Ryan Kent is likely to be a big factor, as Steven Gerrard’s Rangers look to down Neil Lennon’s Celtic at Hampden Park on Sunday.
When these two sides met at Ibrox in September, the Gers boss got his tactics all wrong.
Despite the Hoops fielding two untested full-backs, Gerrard failed to play an out-and-out winger who could test out either defender.
Of course, at that stage, he didn’t have a player of the quality of Kent to call upon.
The maverick wide man signed little more than a day later [Sky Sports] and after overcoming his initial injury problems, he now looks fully fit and full of threat.
Much like the rest of his teammates, he was extremely lively for the opening half an hour in Pittodrie in midweek, before falling out of the game. Perhaps, subconsciously, he already had an eye on this showpiece fixture.
Yet, in his three previous outings before that blip, he scored three goals and registered an assist. Over those games, he showed his ability to score with both feet, from inside or outside the box and his ability to ghost past defenders before whipping in dangerous crosses.
The consistency isn’t always there from Kent, but his pace and trickery give him an X-Factor.
We’ve already identified his battle against the inexperienced Jeremie Frimpong as a big head-to-head in this game. Truth be told, though, if the ex-Liverpool man is in full flow, it doesn’t really matter who is marking him.
The club paid big money to bring Kent in to be a difference-maker on big occasions such as this. Let’s hope that when it comes down to it on Sunday, he will deliver.
