Preview: Rangers vs. Celtic - prediction, team news, lineups

Scottish Premiership champions Rangers will be looking to maintain their unbeaten league record when they lock horns with Old Firm rivals Celtic on Sunday afternoon.

The Gers are unbeaten in four league meetings with the Hoops, including two wins and one draw this campaign; the last time they avoided defeat in every derby game in the same season was back in 1999-2000 under former boss Dick Advocaat.

Match preview

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Steven Gerrard's hopes of winning the league and Scottish Cup double are over after Rangers were stunned by St Johnstone, who beat them 4-2 on penalties in the quarter-finals last weekend.

After a goalless 90 minutes, James Tavernier thought he had won it for the Gers in extra time, however the Saints equalised in dramatic fashion when an in-swinging corner in the 121st minute was headed towards goal by goalkeeper Zander Clark and then instinctively tapped in by Chris Kane, sending the tie to penalties.

Clark proved to be the hero in both boxes as he also saved two penalties from Tavernier and Kemar Roofe, with Ali McCann's winning spot-kick firing St Johnstone into the semi-finals.

Gerrard insists that their title celebrations are not to blame for their dip in form over the past month, which has seen them crash out of both the Scottish Cup and the Europa League, and instead gave credit to St Johnstone for taking their chances in the vital moments.

The Gers, who have won 28 and drawn five of their 33 top-flight matches this season, are now fully focused on becoming only the second team in Scottish Premiership history to go an entire league campaign undefeated.

Rangers will also be looking to maintain their perfect record at Ibrox, after winning all 16 games on home soil this season, including a 1-0 win against the Hoops in January.

The Gers have won four of their five home matches against Celtic under Gerrard, keeping a clean sheet in each of those victories and another win on Sunday would extend the enormous gap between the two teams to 23 points.

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Celtic dropped points for the 13th time in the Scottish Premiership just under two weeks ago when they drew 1-1 in their last league encounter away at Aberdeen.

Substitute Leigh Griffiths rescued a points for the Hoops in the 93rd minute when his close-range header cancelled out Lewis Ferguson's first-half opener.

Interim boss John Kennedy has since called for his Celtic players to be "ruthless" in the Old Firm derby, as they look to end Rangers's hopes of an unbeaten Premiership campaign.

After winning four consecutive top-flight matches at Ibrox between 2016 and 2018, the Hoops have since lost three of their last four away league games at Rangers, failing to score in all three defeats.

In addition, Celtic are winless in three away league outings; the last time they went four top-flight games on the road without a win was back in May 2013, when they endured a run of six winless matches under Neil Lennon.

Even though the 2020-21 season will be remembered as the year Rangers reached the summit, victory on Sunday would be a small positive to take from what has been a disappointing league campaign for the Hoops.

Team News

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Rangers pair Filip Helander and Scott Arfield have been ruled out for the rest of the season with respective knee and ankle injuries, while Leon Balogun (Achilles), Ryan Jack (calf) and Nikola Katic (knee) are also unavailable.

Gerrard has confirmed that Jack Simpson, who has started just once since joining from Bournemouth in February, is set to be handed his Old Firm debut, partnering Connor Goldson in the heart of defence.

The Gers boss named a strong starting lineup against St Johnstone last weekend and despite failing to win, he is unlikely to make too many changes on Sunday.

Tavernier is back to full fitness and is set to keep his place at right-back ahead of Nathan Patterson, while Joe Aribo, Glen Kamara and Steven Davis are all set to start in central midfield.

In attack, Ianis Hagi will be hoping to keep his place in the first XI ahead of Roofe, while Alfredo Morelos and Ryan Kent are both expected to start.

Kennedy has confirmed that Celtic quartet Kristoffer Ajer, James Forrest, Albian Ajeti and Mikey Johnston will all be fit for their trip to Ibrox this weekend.

Centre-back Christopher Jullien has recently posted videos of himself running on social media for the first time. The 27-year-old, who has been out with a serious knee injury since December, is currently training in France, but he is unlikely to feature again this campaign.

Striker Odsonne Edouard, who has scored just three goals in his last 11 appearances, is hoping to keep his place in the side ahead of Griffiths, who came off the bench to score against Aberdeen.

Rangers possible starting lineup:
McGregor; Tavernier, Goldson, Simpson, Barisic; Aribo, Davis, Kamara; Hagi, Morelos, Kent

Celtic possible starting lineup:
Bain; Kenny, Welsh, Ajer, Laxalt; McGregor, Brown, Turnbull; Christie, Edouard, Elyounoussi

We say: Rangers 2-1 Celtic

Both Rangers and Celtic failed to win their last matches and will be looking to bounce back with a victory on Sunday and take the bragging rights away with them.

As desperate as the Hoops will be to end the Gers's 33-game unbeaten run in the Scottish Premiership, Gerrard's side will be just as keen to extend this run and defeat their rivals for the third time this season.

Kennedy's team will likely cause problems in the final third, but the hosts should have enough to secure a narrow victory at Ibrox.