As far as Chris Sutton is concerned, one of Rangers’ strengths could also be a potential weakness during Sunday’s colossal Old Firm derby clash between the two Scottish Premiership title challengers at Ibrox.
In the words of the former Hoops hitman, the man likely to be the very first name on Philippe Clement’s team sheet this weekend is in the midst of ‘another terrific season’. Those ‘outstanding’ statistics only supporting the feeling that this is a player absolutely at the top of his game.
But if Sutton was in the visiting dugout, he would be licking his lips at the prospect of Celtic’s speedy wide players galloping into the spaces James Tavernier vacates when the Rangers skipper embarks on one of those trademark runs down the flank.
Rangers host Old Firm rivals Celtic on Sunday
“The Rangers captain is having another terrific season and his numbers in terms of goals are outstanding,” Sutton tells the Daily Record of Tavernier, who took his tally to a career-best 22 with a fizzing volley in last week’s 3-1 victory over Hibernian.
“It’s not just him scoring, he creates so much with his terrific ability to produce quality balls from the flanks and support the attack.
“But (Daezan) Maeda has the running power to track him, the hunger to stop him. He did it in the first game of the season at Ibrox.
“He can also take advantage of a slip, as he did when scoring in the 2-2 draw at Ibrox last year. I’m not sure he’s always all that keen to have a run at Tavernier one-on-one in an attacking sense when fronting him up, but he can get in behind him easily enough.”
Celtic, despite their rather underwhelming form since Brendan Rodgers’ return, won both of their previous Old Firm meetings this season. Sutton feels that Maeda’s fearsome combination of searing pace and that relentless work ethic should earn him the nod over the variety of other attacking options at the Hoops’ disposal.
The four-time Scottish Premiership champion is also backing Nicolas Kuhn – the £3 million January signing – to produce a statement performance early in his Celtic career. The onus will be on Kuhn to do what the departed Liel Abada did so often when coming up against Borna Barisic, and make those darting runs in behind the Croatian and into the penalty area.
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“The Japanese (Maeda) has that extra string to his bow which makes him doubly crucial in this game because he gets about James Tavernier,” Sutton adds.
So he’ll ask Tavernier that question about whether he wants to drive forward all of the time and leave that space at his back.
“I suspect the Rangers captain won’t be able to help himself being positive and that is where Maeda, and Kuhn on the other side, have to sparkle.
“Maeda has already had Old Firm input. This is where we’ll find out if Kuhn can also. You hate harking back to the past, but even recently, Jota and Liel Abada were experts at dismantling Rangers from these wide areas.
“Punishing sloppy defending and using their pace and ability to destroy. It’s now down to Maeda and Kuhn to emulate that.”
Rangers, with a win, can leapfrog Celtic at the top of the table, while retaining a game in hand.
