The first Glasgow Derby of the season is upon us now as Celtic welcome Rangers to Celtic Park for the lunchtime kick-off.
Brendan Rodgers‘ team sits two points clear at the top of the Scottish Premiership table and has the opportunity to put even more daylight between Celtic and Rangers should the Irishman be victorious once again this afternoon.
Last season, Rodgers and Celtic enjoyed almost total domination over Rangers in this fixture as they remained unbeaten winning four out of five Glasgow Derbies to win a league and Scottish Cup double.
And as the big kick-off approaches, no doubt there will be nerves amongst the Celtic fans as there usually is whenever a fixture against Rangers looms.
However, for Andy Walker, there is no sign of said nerves. In fact, the former Celtic striker is so confident of a Hoops win that he reckons his old club will win this afternoon’s showdown ‘comfortably’.
Walker: Rangers ‘would take’ a draw vs Celtic
Speaking ahead of today’s fixture, Walker was asked for a prediction on how he sees the big game panning out.
And speaking confidently, Walker said he ‘cannot make a case’ for Rangers getting anything at Celtic Park today.
Walker told The Go Radio Football Show, “Normally, you look at it and you wonder who will win. It’s normally pretty tight and if you’re tipping someone, it’s by a goal. I think Celtic can win this by three goals.
“I think they can win it comfortably. I’m going to go 3-0 Celtic.”
“We’ve been saying it for a number of months now. They need better players and when I look at this lineup that Rangers have got I think it is important for the manager as well to be able to put something together to show that he can come up with a big performance.
“Some big players playing on the big occasion. Rangers, if you offered them a draw, they would take it right now.
“I cannot make a case for Rangers winning at Parkhead.”
Celtic’s recent record at beating Rangers
Celtic have been coming out on top in the Glasgow Derby more often than not over the last three years. Since the Scottish Cup semi-final defeat in 2022, the Parkhead club have lost just one out of 12 of these encounters.
But what makes Walker’s prediction of a comfortable 3-0 Celtic Park win is that over the last two seasons, these games, in terms of the scoreline at least, have been very tight.
In fact, you have to go back to that famous afternoon at Celtic Park back in March 2022 to find the last time Celtic won this fixture relatively easily.
That day, a 4-0 win under Ange Postecoglou hammered home Celtic’s domination as they sealed the record-breaking eighth domestic treble.
Since then, Celtic have won seven of the last 10 derbies and each victory has been by the odd goal.
- 26.02.2023: League Cup final – Rangers 1 v 2 Celtic
- 08.04.2023: Scottish Premiership – Celtic 3 v 2 Rangers
- 30.04.2023: Scottish Cup semi-final – Rangers 0 v 1 Celtic
- 03.09.2023: Scottish Premiership – Rangers 0 v 1 Celtic
- 30.12.2023: Scottish Premiership – Celtic 2 v 1 Rangers
- 11.05.2024: Scottish Premiership – Celtic 2 v 1 Rangers
- 25.05.2024: Scottish Cup final – Celtic 1 v 0 Rangers
So whilst the Celtic fans will hope that Walker’s prediction will come true, the smart money would be on another tight game between the two clubs with, hopefully, Celtic coming out on top.
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