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Celtic boss Wilfried Nancy has his say ahead of kick-off. Teams now warming up.
“This is a special game. It’s a rivalry, so we know the importance of this game. My player wants to do well for them, obviously, but also for the fans, for the club.
“This is a good game to play, obviously, with a lot of pressure. But all the games against Rangers are like this, so the player knows that. So now it’s to play and express ourselves.
“Motherwell was another game. Today is a new game, so there is no comparison. So what I want to have is my team to play, to go forward when this is the moment, to keep the ball when this is the moment and to compete. For me, this is the most important to win the game.
“Tactically I want to see something and also in terms of freshness I want to see something. Like every team, you know, they [Rangers] try to play when this is the moment and also to play direct. So we are aware about this. So the idea is to attack well but also to defend well, to be balanced when we attack.
“Motherwell was a setback I would say. But I’m not concerned by that because I know the context of the game.”
A reminder that we also have a 12.30pm kick-off in the Premier League. That’ll be Aston Villa hosting Nottingham Forest and Sarah Rendell has live coverage.
Here’s Rangers boss Danny Röhl speaking ahead of kick-off. This is his first league Old Firm derby.
“I think in the last couple of weeks we took a lot of good results. We come with more belief, with more convictions. I think this is important.
“And for me, the two things, we have to be emotionally ready. I know we will. And I want to see a team who is also, from the technical side, very well organised today.
“And if we do this together, we have a good opportunity to take something. As you mentioned, we have been winning games, but it’s that feeling that we need.”
Former Celtic striker Chris Sutton describes Wilfried Nancy’s pre-match press conference as “really, really odd” as he speaks live pitchside. Plenty would agree. Here’s Ewan Murray’s piece on the Frenchman’s “impassioned defence” of his methods and poor start.
A quick look at the SPL table with kick-off just under an hour away. Rangers can pull level with Celtic on 38 points with a win.
Incidentally, Celtic remains favourites to win the title despite their recent blips. Current odds: 10/11 Celtic, 15/8 Hearts, 4/1 Rangers.
Sky Sports going with a ‘Stranger Things’-themed intro to reflect the rather odd seasons both Old Firm sides have endured. I need my daughter in the room to get some of the references.
Celtic make three changes from their woeful 2-0 defeat against Motherwell last time. But there’s only a place on the bench for new signing Julian Araujo, who has joined on loan from Bournemouth. Celtic bring in Arne Engels, Luke McCowan and Johnny Kenny from the team that lost at Fir Park while Liam Scales, Paulo Bernardo and Reo Hatate move to the bench.
Rangers boss Danny Röhl makes two changes from the side that edged out Kilmarnock 2-1. Skipper James Tavernier and Mohamed Diomande are named among the substitutes as in come Dujon Sterling and Connor Barron.
Starting lineups
The team sheets are in. Here are you starting XIs.
Celtic: Schmeichel, Ralston, Trusty, Tierney, Yang, McGregor, Engels, McCowan, Nygren, Maeda, Kenny.
Subs: Sinisalo, Scales, Yamada, Araujo, Bernardo, Hatate, Murray, Forrest, Donovan.
Rangers: Butland, Sterling, Souttar, Fernandez, Meghoma, Barron, Raskin, Aasgaard, Moore, Gassama, Chermiti.
Subs: Kelly, Nsiala, Aarons, Tavernier, Curtis, Dowell, Diomande, Miovski, Danilo.
It’s a chilly one degree at Celtic Park today although the ‘feels like’ thermometer symbol shows -3. Then again, in Ohio, where Wilfried Nancy previously managed Columbus Crew, it’s -7 (no higher than -3 all day) so he clearly moved to Glasgow for the weather.
Preamble
There’s nothing unusual about Celtic and Rangers being separated by just three points ahead of a New Year’s Old Firm derby. But it is far from the norm to see respective points tallies of 38 (Celtic) and 35 (Rangers) with 19 games gone. Those wobbles have allowed Hearts (41 points) to take charge at the top of the table and the leaders should bank another win when they host bottom club Livingston tomorrow.
Rangers fans will wonder how they’re in a title race after the woeful start under Russell Martin but the baton of despair has now been handed to Celtic’s supporters, who have watched the upturn under stand-in boss Martin O’Neill completely evaporate since the appointment of Wilfried Nancy. The Frenchman has suffered five defeats in his opening seven games – unthinkable at Celtic – and another loss here could be catostrophic.
Unusual times then although some things never change in an Old Firm fixture. Glasgow braces itself. Ex-pats all around the world don either green or blue. Kick-off at Celtic Park is 12.30pm GMT.
