Celtic Women face their Rangers counterparts at Broadwood stadium tonight in a clash that could have a major say on the destination of the SWPL title race and, even if not, UEFA Women’s Champions League qualification.
There is a significant amount of daylight between Fran Alonso’s second-placed side who are on 56 points and Glasgow City who are sitting top with a nice nine-point cushion on 65 points, albeit having played a game more.
Apart from the usual satisfaction of beating our closest rivals, three points will help keep some sort of pressure on City ahead of the upcoming fixture against Leanne Ross’ team on April 16th.
Rangers currently sit just one point behind the Hoops in third place so a defeat tonight would not only effectively make winning the title near impossible for the Ghirls, but it would also be a significant blow to see them leapfrog us.
Finishing in second place is enough to qualify for the first round of the UEFA Women’s Champions League tournament next season. Progression on that front is of huge importance to the development of the Celtic side.
There’s a lot riding on the game, and the final derby of the season on May 3rd, even out with the context of the title race.
Celtic vs Rangers SWPL clash gets TV coverage
The game is available to watch on Sky Sports Football, Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports UHDR from 7:00pm tonight with kick-off at 7:30pm.
Alonso has belief his side can secure a result and has urged them to draw confidence from the last fixture between the two which Celtic came out on top as 3-0 winners.
He said [Celtic FC website]: “Obviously it was a very good result. There was a great fighting spirit to keep a clean sheet, even in the times we didn’t have as much control of the game.
“I was so proud of the performance of the players. The players that started did fantastically, and the players that came from the bench, again, did fantastic, helping us keep a clean sheet that gave us a lot of belief.”
After tonight, Celtic face Partick Thistle on April 2nd and then it is onto Petershill Park on the 16th for that huge match against City.
In other news, Kyogo’s classy response to international exclusion should excite the Celtic fans.
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