It’s a colossal tussle, but victory today would be the biggest Old Firm success in years for Rangers due to one key reason.
Steven Gerrard’s side take the tough trip to Celtic Park this afternoon to face Brendan Rodgers’ Celtic. It’s a game many Gers fans have been looking forward to since the Liverpool icon came to the club.
The Ibrox side haven’t won in this fixture since an Ibrox success in 2012. But, previous to that, it was 2010 in which Rangers last grabbed three points at Celtic Park.
Yet there is another reason why a win today would be the biggest Old Firm success in years for Rangers. It’s not just because the supporters have been craving a league win in this fixture for years.
Russian Round-trip
Rangers have travelled a 6,000-mile round trip from Russia this week. The Govan side came through a sweat-sapping 90 minutes against FC Ufa on Thursday night to progress to the Europa League group stages.
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Gerrard’s side had to dig in with nine men for nearly half an hour to nab a 1-1 draw in Russia. It was a sensational performance, but it was also a tiring one.
Meawhile, Celtic had the relatively simple task of dispatching Suduva at home later on that night. Rodgers had the luxury of dropping some of his key men for today, and it’s clear the energy advantage is with Celtic.
Getting a result the weekend after European football is a notoriously tricky thing to do, particularly in the Europa League. Rangers wouldn’t have gotten back until Friday, and won’t have had much time to train for the match.
Yet, this has to be looked at as a massive opportunity.
There are clear areas where Rangers can hurt Celtic. Added to that, a victory (or even a draw) today would lay down a big marker with regards to how far this side have come.
Celtic had it easy on Thursday night, where as Rangers had a long journey to navigate.
Victory today, and that’s a stick Rangers fans can use to beat Celtic with for months.