Scottish Football Betting: Rangers to come out on top in the Old Firm clash

Scottish Football / John Girvan / 30 December 2009 / 1 Comments

Kris Boyd has been scoring for fun of late and has improved his work rate and may be rewarded with his first-ever start against Celtic

"You always hear people say that the form book goes out the window for such encounters but on the whole this is rubbish. The likelihood is that Rangers will head to Parkhead with six straight wins up their sleeve, there will be pressure on a misfiring Celtic ([2.44]) and with Rangers out at [2.96], the value lies in an away win."

John Girvan tells us why Kris Boyd could be making his first-ever Rangers start against Celtic in a match that the away team could well go on to win.

Niall McGinn scored a last minute screamer to clinch a 2-0 home win over Hamilton on Boxing Day. It returned a 1pt stake on Celtic -2.0 but elsewhere it was a complete wash out with Killie holding Dundee United at Tannadice and Rangers winning by three goals at Easter Road. The capital clash was indeed a cracker and proved a traders' dream also with Rangers out at [3.5] when a goal down before dipping to just [1.29] once 2-1 in front - all before half-time!

Profit/Loss: - 0.69pts

Severe wintery conditions are playing havoc with the festive SPL fixtures but there might be no stopping Rangers who could go 10 points clear of their fiercest rivals with a win at Celtic Park on Sunday. (Live on Sky Sports 2, 12:30 kick-off)

That's assuming of course that the light blues have overcome a tricky home tie with Dundee United on Wednesday. Celtic's visit to Rugby Park was postponed so the extra match gives Rangers the chance to open up a seven point gap.

This could put a little bit of extra pressure on the Celtic players whose performances in the last couple of games have brought much of the previously gathered momentum to a halt. The shock defeat at Hearts was followed by a lackluster display at home to Hamilton in which the hosts went into an early lead but took until injury time to double it, making for a nervy last half hour.

Rangers on the other hand are receiving plaudits for the way they are negotiating
their way through a very tough set of fixtures. Respective 3-0 and 4-1 wins at fourth-placed Dundee United and at third placed Hibs have raised question marks on whether either side can challenge the top two this season and in Kris Boyd and Kenny Miller, Rangers have a front two on fire at the moment.

The duo have 26 goals between them this term and have bagged 13 of the 19 that The Gers have notched up during December. Across the city Scott McDonald and Giorgios Samaras have 16 between them all season.

Walter Smith has never started Kris Boyd at Celtic Park before. This is due to a combination of a preference for a 4-5-1 in such fixtures and also Boyd's low work rate, but he's getting a big shift out of the SPL's leading marksman these days and the 4-4-2 is winning matches convincingly.

You always hear people say that the form book goes out the window for such encounters but on the whole this is rubbish. The likelihood is that Rangers will head to Parkhead with six straight wins up their sleeve, there will be pressure on a misfiring Celtic ([2.44]) and with Rangers out at [2.96], the value lies in an away win.

If the Old Firm derby got your blood pumping and you fancy some more, then switch over to ESPN on its conclusion for Edinburgh's version. To be honest Hibs versus Hearts has been a bit of a letdown recently as there haven't been any more than 2 goals in an Edinburgh derby in any of the last 11 meetings.

November's clash at Tynecastle ended goalless and looking at recent form, if there is to be any goal action then the onus is firmly on hosts Hibernian. Before Wednesday's home tie with Motherwell, Hearts were on a run of just two wins from 10 and to date have just nine goals from nine away ties this term. The win at Falkirk on Boxing Day came via a penalty and they have lost at Hamilton, Motherwell and St Mirren recently.

How Hibs react to that 4-1 defeat to Rangers is the big question. John Hughes is experienced enough to guide his players through this and will be reminding them that before the defeat they were unbeaten since September and still have six league wins and a draw in their seven home ties versus all non Old Firm opponents.

Hibs have plenty of creative flair and in Anthony Stokes, with six goals in the last four, they have a means to finish off their opponents and get their terrific season back on track. Back Hibernian in the match odds at [2.16].

Recommendations:

Rangers @ [2.96] (1pt)

Kris Boyd 'To Score' @ [3.25] (1pt)

Kenny Miller 'To Score' @ [3.4] (1pt)

Hibernian @ [2.16] (2pts)

Comments (1)

1. Paul | 03 January 2010

   The formbook did again go out the window and Celtic could have won by four goals.