With the title race now set to enter the home straight, Rangers and Celtic will do battle at Ibrox today as both clubs look to keep pace with league leaders Hearts.
It has been a tumultuous season for both Old Firm clubs at various points, with major upheaval on and off the pitch.
There is a feeling among supporters that this could well be win-or-bust in terms of their team’s title chances.
The stakes could scarcely be higher as Danny Rohl and Martin O’Neill prepare to pit their wits against each other.
Here, Daily Mail Sport’s John McGarry and Calum Crowe chew over some of the big issues heading into the biggest game of the season so far.
Do you feel like this game will have a direct bearing on next week’s Scottish Cup tie?
John McGarry: It certainly won’t do the winner any harm. If you look back through the history books of Old Firm clashes, a lot of these double headers tend to go the way of one side.
John Souttar and Daizen Maeda battle for possession and could face off again this afternoon
Think back to Celtic triumphing twice in a week in 1991 and Rangers doing the same in 1998. That suggests that there’s a huge psychological advantage to be gained from getting the upper hand in the first match.
If a player wins his individual battle, he naturally feels confident about repeating the trick.
Calum Crowe: The fact that Rangers have home advantage in both matches is significant. Victory this weekend would certainly imbue them with renewed confidence and momentum. But I don’t see it as a given that they would then automatically win the following weekend as well.
If Celtic lose this weekend, the Scottish Cup could become their last chance of winning a trophy this season. Martin O’Neill would demand a reaction. Likewise, if Celtic were to win this weekend, the Ibrox crowd would blow a gasket if their team then lost again in the cup the following weekend.
I just think it’s a little too simplistic to say one game naturally leads into the other. Bear in mind Celtic play Aberdeen at Pittodrie in midweek as well.
If either team was to lose this match, would they be out of the race?
JM: Clearly not. Rangers would still have nine games to play and Celtic would have 10. That’s still enough scope to dust yourself down and put together the kind of winning run which would be required to prevail.
The sides have still to meet at Celtic Park on league business. Every side in the top division has something to play for and there are no gimmes. Just look at bottom club Livingston fighting for the lives against Rangers last Sunday.
All eyes will be on Martin O’Neill and Danny Rohl after their exchange of opinions this week
CC: Neither team would be out of it mathematically. But I do believe the psychological damage of a defeat would be too much to recover from. Especially if Hearts take care of business against Aberdeen and stretch their lead at the top, Rangers and Celtic would be doing their best just to cling on.
For whoever loses this match, they would then have to be almost flawless from now until the end of the season and reel off a run of eight or nine wins over the final 10 games. I don’t really see either team being capable of doing that to be honest.
Stiliyan Petrov said earlier this week that Martin O’Neill shouldn’t have come back a second time. Do you feel there is any part of O’Neill that regrets his decision?
JM: I don’t believe so. The point made was still valid, though. For a club like Celtic to be picking up the phone again to a septuagenarian a month after they’d replaced him with Wilfried Nancy was embarrassing. It summed up this binfire of a season and all that’s wrong with the leadership of the club.
But I don’t think O’Neill would have agreed to return had he not been fully onboard. He still evidently gets a kick out of management and will still feel he can pull the title out of the fire.
CC: Yeah, I think a part of him probably does regret it now in all honesty. Even though he’s on the verge of turning 74, he clearly still gets a buzz from management and enjoys being in the thick of it.
When he agreed to come back again in early January, he would have felt quietly confident he could turn this around and lead Celtic to the league title. He may well still feel that way. But the shambles of the January transfer window will have opened his eyes.
Celtic are a team running on fumes right now. There is so much acrimony and division around the club. There is no leadership within the boardroom. O’Neill had a vision in his mind when he came back to Celtic of this being one glorious last hurrah. But that vision is now slipping further and further away.
Even if Celtic don’t win the league, nobody will blame O’Neill. This omnishambles of a season is not his fault.
This troubled season for Celtic has had the disgruntlement of supporters as the one constant
In a sense, he has a free hit. His iconic status among supporters is safe come what may. But I do feel there will be a slight sense of regret. Had he turned round to the board in January and politely decline their second SOS call in the space of only a couple of months, would anyone have blamed him?
What tactical approach should Danny Rohl adopt to win the game?
JM: I don’t expect the Rangers head coach will deviate too far from the blueprint which successfully saw off Hearts a couple of weeks back. That means a 4-4-2 with Ryan Naderi and Youssef Chermiti partnering each other up front, so long as Naderi is fit.
The atmosphere inside Ibrox will be electric. The crowd will urge the players to get the ball forward quickly. A makeshift Celtic side were superb defensively in Stuttgart but there’s more riding on this one. Auston Trusty is suspended, meaning O’Neill is likely to partner Liam Scales with Dane Murray. Rohl will feel Celtic are vulnerable so will go after them.
CC: Rohl could stick with the 4-2-2-2 that we saw against Hearts, a system that has become a staple of the Red Bull coaching system where he learned his trade. It would certainly signal an intent for Rangers to be aggressive and attack Celtic.
But I just wonder if he might go for a 4-3-3 with a flat three in midfield of Nico Raskin, Mohamed Diomande and Tochi Chukwuani. Mikey Moore would play from the left but drift inside into central spaces, with Tuur Rommens providing width. Andreas Skov Olsen would play as a more natural winger on the other side, cutting inside and linking with Chermiti and the midfielders.
Do you expect to see any of the Celtic fringe players who featured in Stuttgart starting the match?
JM: Luke McCowan produced his finest display in a Celtic jersey in Germany, scoring on 29 seconds and doing all that was asked of him thereafter. But I do think he’ll be back on the bench at Ibrox. O’Neill is more likely to go for a three of Callum McGregor, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Benjamin Nygren.
Having played his part in keeping a clean sheet, you’d fancy Murray to get the nod ahead of Benjamin Arthur.
O’Neil’s biggest call comes in the goalkeeping position. My hunch is that Viljami Sinisalo will retain his place ahead of Kasper Schmeichel after a superb midweek performance.
Viljami Sinisalo is in the frame to start for Celtic again due to concerns over Kasper Schmeichel
CC: If Viljami Sinisalo doesn’t start for Celtic at Ibrox, he should hand in a transfer request first thing on Monday morning. After finally being given a chance, he was excellent in the victory in Stuttgart on Thursday night and deserves to keep his place ahead of Kasper Schmeichel.
Celtic’s season could hinge on this call. If O’Neill goes back to Schmeichel and the Danish veteran makes another blunder, the manager would be making a rod for his own back. I think you have to stick with Sinisalo now.
Dane Murray should keep his place in central defence, with Luke McCowan probably dropping to the bench and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain coming into midfield.
Which players, on both sides, have something to prove to their supporters?
JM: James Tavernier’s record in this fixture stretching back over a decade is frankly dreadful. In what’s likely to be his last home league game against Celtic, the skipper could do with delivering a performance and a result to change that perception.
In terms of the January signings, Andreas Skov Olsen has so far not delivered.
If selected, it’s imperative that Kasper Schmeichel cut the elementary errors out of his game.
Tomas Cvancara looks like he’s a useful link man. To date, though, he’s scored one goal in eight games in a Celtic jersey. That must change.
CC: On the Celtic side, McGregor, Kieran Tierney, Schmeichel, Reo Hatate, Daizen Maeda. Given the shambles of their season so far, their won’t be many in green-and-white who don’t have something to prove.
For Rangers, Skov Olsen has not the heights expected of him yet. John Souttar’s recent form is poor. Tavernier has a dreadful record against Celtic over the last decade.
