Scottish Football / Total Goals Guys / 15 April 2008 /

Half of the Total Goals Guys duo John Girvan talks us through the betting as Celtic clash with Rangers...again.

Celtic host Rangers on Wednesday night in what is the first instalment of an Old Firm double header that will take place over the next 12 days. The current champions will have home advantage for both of these ties and with Rangers still facing four other away ties two Celtic victories would throw the SPL title race wide open.

Celtic, in the form of Walter Smith and Ally McCoist, have a monkey of major proportions on their backs having failed to score a single goal in each of the four defeats they have suffered (a record in these fixtures) since the Ibrox legends made their double comeback last January. Can Rangers and Allan McGregor in particular enhance this further?

It was widely acknowledged that Celtic acquitted them selves quite positively at Ibrox in Rangers1-0 victory in March, particularly in the 1st half, and they will take confidence from their performance if not the result. Scott Brown, who featured heavily that day, is suspended however but his absence from the side did not prevent Celtic from taking the points in style at Motherwell on Sunday in a 4-1 win.

The key man for Celtic will undoubtedly be Aiden McGeady. The young Irishman picked up the award for Clydesdale Bank Premier League Young Player of the Year this week and will be looking to build on an encouraging display at Ibrox last month in which he had the better of Rangers make shift right-back Kirk Broadfoot. The ex-St Mirren centre half lacks pace but while he makes up for his faults in heart and desire there is no getting away from the fact that McGeady got far too many crosses into the box than a full back should allow and you would expect this to be exploited further in a home encounter.

From strike trio McDonald, Vennegoor of Hesselink and Samaras, Celtic will play two up top and with the Greek internationalist on the bench at the weekend and the starting duo both amongst the goals at Motherwell, it looks likely manager Gordon Strachan will stick with what was a winning formula in attack. McDonald, the league's top marksman this term, missed out at Ibrox recently but this was thought to have been a tactical move and it would be a surprise if he was to miss out again.

Rangers are 12 games away from an unthinkable quadruple and many onlookers are finding the story of their season intriguing. Can they really win all four trophies? Or are the wheels about to come off? In terms the league it would be difficult to see Celtic going on to lift the title if they took any less than 6 points from this Old Firm double helping but should Ranger lose on Wednesday it will surely give Celtic a huge physiological lift and put the pressure on Rangers for their return trip a week on Sunday.

The way Rangers will set up is tailor made for this fixture. They are not a free flowing attacking side who will alter their tactics for a one-off game in which they aim to contain and frustrate whilst hitting on the break. The well documented 4-5-1 is a regular feature for Rangers, the squad know it inside out and it proved oh so effective in Lisbon last Thursday in getting the side through to the Uefa Cup Semi- Finals.

Kevin Thomson, who's first goal in light blue separated the sides 18 days ago, is suspended for this one so expect Christian Dailly to take up a role in front of the defence alongside Brahim Hemdani. In attack Daniel Cousin is available for selection and like in Portugal last week one would presume Darcheville will start as the lone striker with the Gabon international replacing him in the 2nd half.

It really is a tough one to call but Rangers defensive set-up makes Under 2.5 hard to ignore at [1.87].

In terms of the match odds market Celtic are being matched at [2.32] to win their first Old Firm match in 19 months. It seems generous given the circumstances but in 37 Old Firm encounters against Walter Smith they have triumphed in only 19% of these matches. There is rarely a draw in this fixture (2 in the last 21) so those who maybe think such a result is overdue might like a slice of the [3.5] on offer for a stalemate. An away win will almost certainly wrap up the championship for Rangers who can be backed at [3.4].

'.$sign_up['title'].'

'; } } ?>

:

:

:

?

: