Rangers v Celtic - Hoops to progress
The Scottish Cup gets interesting this Sunday as Rangers and Celtic face-off at Ibrox.
The sides have already met twice this season with one win apiece, but there have been plenty of changes since they last played each other at the start of January - most notably in the Rangers front-line.
Kenny Miller had scored 22 goals for the Gers this season before his move to Turkish side Bursaspor. His presence and goals will be missed by Smith's side but, in El Hadji Diouf, they seem to have found a player who has Miller's presence, if not goals.
He impressed on his debut in Rangers' 1-0 win over Hearts in the week and Smith reckons there is more to come from the controversial striker.
He said: "Overall I was pleased with the way he played, considering that serial killers get better publicity than he's had over the last few days.
"It was never going to be easy for him after all that and I was pleased with the way he handled it.
"Diouf needs time as he's not played for a few weeks but he was pitched in and showed he wants to take part in the game. He was keen to be involved in everything and I was pleased with the way he played overall.
However, it will take more than Diouf to stop Celtic getting a win. The Bhoys have not lost in 14 games and their away record is incredibly impressive - they have not lost on their last seven away days and have only conceded two goals in that period.
It will be harder for them against Rangers, but with the Gers having to sell their main goal threat, backing the defensively sound Celtic to come out on top at [3.05] looks to be well worth a punt.
What do you think will happen? Can Rangers win at [2.4]? Let us know with a comment below...
Published: 4 Feb 2011
John Paul (February 3, 2011 3:27 PM) said:
As a Celtic fan Im gutted that you have just posted that article and prediction. It will be the kiss of death for us now.
Bernard Quinn (February 3, 2011 9:06 PM) said:
Form normally goes out the window in Old Firm games however Celtic are on a real wave crest at the moment and just cruising in to shore. A young maturing team, coupled with the excitement of the Stokes/Hooper understanding and success up front, they will be a hard cookie to crumble this Sunday.
James Fyffe (February 6, 2011 2:00 AM) said:
Bernard, I dont know how you can consider Celtic a young maturing team when they are chopped and changed at every oppertunity. Lennon will buy another 6 or 7 average players in the summer and it's all change again. Thats if he's still in charge. Lennon has spent a fortune compared to Smith and while and the squad is larger, in my opinion, the first team is still weaker than Rangers, who have hardly spent a bean. Lennon will sign anything with a pulse. Very poor manager. A wee decent run at the moment but Rangers to win 3-1 Sunday and win the league. Sorry.