Rangers vs Celtic: Betting Odds & Prediction
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Rangers host bitter rivals Celtic in an Old Firm derby which looks sure to have a telling impact on this season's Scottish Premiership title race.
The visitors head into the game in first place on 74 points from 31 games but are just one point ahead of their hosts, who still currently hold fate in their own hands thanks to a game in hand.
We take a look at how things may go down between the Glasgow giants, with the contest kicking off at 12pm UK time.
Recent Form
Rangers
The home side have a great record on their own patch this season (W13 D0 L3,) winning 81% of their matches.
Defensively, Rangers have been excellent and boast the meanest backline in the division, conceding a meagre 17 goals in 30 outings to date.
On xG (expected goals), the 'Gers should be conceding 0.88 per game but they are even outperforming that modest number — largely thanks to the arrival of boss Philippe Clement last October. Having lost three of their first seven league outings, the Belgian coach has overseen a remarkable turnaround, guiding his side to wins in 19 of his 22 SPL clashes in charge. That renaissance also extended into Europe, where they impressively reached the last 16 of the Europa League before narrowly exiting to Portuguese giants Benfica.
Full-back and captain James Tavernier has been in great goalscoring form recently too, scoring five goals in Rangers' last five outings.
🔜 Next Up, Old Firm Day at Ibrox 👊 pic.twitter.com/6KGgQgVO78
— Rangers Football Club (@RangersFC) April 2, 2024
Celtic
The Hoops have excelled going forward this term, racking up a league-leading 74 goals and finding the net on 20 occasions in their last six outings across all competitions. Furthermore, Celtic's xG away from home per match is 2.30 — suggesting their ruthless 2.19 goals scored per game could easily have been even higher.
However, Brendan Rodgers' side do concede an xG of 1.05 when playing away from home and have kept only one clean sheet in their last eight league matches.
Despite this, Celtic have only lost one match on the road in the Scottish Premier League in 2024, which was a 2-0 loss in Edinburgh against Hearts last month.
The Old Firm is a contest like no other and Rodgers has a very impressive record against Rangers, having lost only once in 15 career meetings. His side have also edged both of this season's previous encounters by the odd goal, winning 1-0 at Ibrox and 2-1 at Parkhead. Forward Kyogo Furuhashi has scored the winner for Celtic in their last two meetings against their fierce rivals.
Prediction
Though Celtic raise their game for the big occasion, they face a Rangers side who have been revolutionised under their new boss and enter this crunch clash in sensational form.
Given the magnitude of the game, home advantage could prove crucial and OddsNow believe the hosts look a fair price to take a giant stride towards their 56th national crown.