Celtic are all set to square up against Rangers at Hampden Park for an Old Firm derby in the Scottish Cup final on Saturday.
Glaswegian rivals Celtic and Rangers will go up against each other in the Scottish Cup final for the first time in 22 years. The two teams have produced some exciting matches over the years, and this is expected to be another exceptional fixture between the top two teams of the Scottish Premiership.
Celtic have been on a dominant run of late, and they have won each of their last five league games. Winning all five of the second-phase fixtures has helped them win the league, and they are now looking for the domestic double.
The Scottish champions are heading into this fixture on the back of a 6-5 win on penalties over Aberdeen. The semi-final between the two ended 3-3 after 120 minutes of action and eventually, penalties were needed to separate the two teams.
Meanwhile, their opponents Rangers were three points behind them in the Scottish Premiership after the end of the first phase. While they did finish second after the end of the final phase, the difference grew to eight points as Celtic went unbeaten in the second phase and Rangers dropped points twice.
Rangers got the better of Hearts in the semi-final of the Scottish Cup. They were the dominant team on the day and ended up winning 2-0. Now, they square up against Celtic, who have already defeated them twice this season with the third fixture ending in a draw. The Hard Tackle takes a closer look at this fixture and tries to predict the tactics they could put to use.
Team News & Tactics
Celtic
Yang Hyun-Jun has missed each of their last five games, and his availability for this fixture is a major doubt. Brendan Rodgers rotated his XI in Celtic’s outing, and he is expected to revert to the strongest XI to take down rivals Rangers for the third time in the season.
Rodgers’s team will go ahead with the 4-3-3 formation, with Joe Hart in goal. Alistair Johnston and Greg Taylor will be the full-backs, while Cameron Carter-Vickers and Liam Scales will feature in the heart of the defence.
In the centre of the park, Matt O’Riley will feature alongside Callum McGregor and Reo Hatete. The trio will look to control the tempo of the game. James Forrest and Daizen Maeda will feature out wide on the flanks. They will provide width to their attacks, while Kyogo Furuhashi will be lead the line for Celtic against Rangers.
Probable Lineup (4-3-3): Hart; Johnston, Carter-Vickers, Scales, Taylor; McGregor, Hatate, O’Riley; Forrest, Furuhashi, Maeda
Rangers
Connor Goldson, Leon Balogun, John Souttar, Borna Barisic, Tom Lawrence, Oscar Cortes, Rabbi Matondo, and Danilo all missed their last outing but quite a few of them could return for this one with their boss willing to take a risk on their fitness.
Abdallah Sima and Ridvan Yilmaz made a comeback after injury in their last outing and could start this one. Meanwhile, John Lundstram is also back available after serving a two-game ban.
Rangers will go ahead with the 4-2-3-1 formation, with Jack Butland in goal. James Tavernier and Ridvan Yilmaz will be the full-backs for this one, while Leon King will feature in the heart of the defence alongside Ben Davies.
The back four will look for a clean sheet and they will have the support of Mohamed Diomande and Nicolas Raskin who will form the double pivot just in front of the back line. Ross McCausland and Fabio Silva will provide width to their attacks, while Todd Cantwell will feature as the number ten. The three of them will look to create goalscoring chances for Cyriel Dessers who will be leading the line.
Probable Lineup (4-2-3-1): Butland; Tavernier, King, Davies, Yilmaz; Diomande, Raskin; McCausland, Cantwell, Silva; Dessers
Key Stats
- Rangers have failed to go past Celtic for over a year now. They have lost two out of the last three meetings between the two teams.
- In the last two meetings between the two teams in the Scottish Cup, Rangers have been the one who have come out on top.
- The last Scottish Cup final between the two teams which took place back in 2002 also ended in Rangers’ favour as they bounced back from behind.
- Celtic have won the Scottish Premiership while Rangers have won the Scottish League Cup this season.
- Celtic have the opportunity to win a record-extending 42nd Scottish Cup making it eight titles in the last 10 years.
Player to Watch
Joe Hart
Hart is gearing up for the final game of his career, and all eyes will be on him in this all-important final. The 37-year-old who has featured for the likes of Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur, and West Ham United back in the day will look for one final clean sheet of his career having already accumulated 17 this term. He will be motivated to finish it off on a high; for that to happen, they need to win the cup.
Prediction
Celtic 3-1 Rangers
Rangers have failed to get the better of Celtic for over 12 months and given the kind of matches we have seen between the two teams this season, Brendan Rodgers’s team will be the favourites for this outing. They have been the more dominating team and should come out on top here. The Hard Tackle predicts a 3-1 win for Celtic.
