After all the pre-match build-up, today is finally here. Celtic take on Rangers at Ibrox in the biggest Glasgow Derby of the season this afternoon.
With the top of the table so tight, any slipup by any team will give the opposition a huge psychological advantage heading into the top-six split.
Now I am fully aware that Celtic have still to face St Mirren at Celtic Park and Aberdeen at Pittodrie before then but you would have to concede that whilst today is far from being a title decider, it will give whoever wins it a huge lift heading into the final stages of the season.
At one point, Celtic had a seven-point advantage at the top of the Scottish Premiership. Poor form in December allowed Rangers to take the top spot in the league and whilst Brendan Rodgers heads to Ibrox leading the pack (albeit Rangers have a game in hand), another victory this afternoon would give us a massive edge for the remainder of the season.
Celtic ‘confident’ ahead of Ibrox game
With so much riding on this game, Paulo Bernardo has shared how the Celtic camp has been feeling this week ahead of the Ibrox trip.
Bernardo said [Daily Record], “That’s good but every game is just one game.
“The past is the past. We have to build again for the future.
“We expect to face a great opponent. Rangers are our rivals so they have to be good too to play against us. So let’s see. The team are confident. Some players have come back from injury too so that’s good for the group.
“There is a lot of competition for places and that helps the team. Everyone will give the best of themselves to play good football.”
And so they should be. Under Rodgers, Celtic have lost just once in 15 games against the Ibrox outfit. In the Irishman’s first tenure at the club, Celtic regularly dished out a sore one to our Glasgow rivals.
A 5-0 Parkhead win in April 2018 was a follow-up to a record 5-1 Ibrox victory in 2017 at a time when
Celtic were utterly dominant in this fixture.
And whilst recent games have been a much closer affair, Celtic have come out victorious in the last two Glasgow Derby’s this season.
Celtic have every right to feel confident. They have a manager who knows what it takes to win this fixture and they also have a team littered with treble winners. And in Bernardo, we have a player how has also scored in this fixture.
Let’s hope that confidence shows on the pitch and the Hoops come out victorious in what will be another tightly contested affair this afternoon.