Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers is fully aware that Saturday afternoon’s match at home to Rangers will be a tough test.
The Bhoys head into the fixture as league leaders but the Ibrox side have been on a consistent run under manager Philippe Clement.
Celtic would be the first side to defeat them since the Belgian arrived if three points are picked up later today.
They’re certainly improved from the ill-fated Michael Beale reign, which Celtic hastened the demise of in September with a 1-0 victory at Ibrox.
Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers on Philippe Clement and Rangers
Asked for his thoughts on the job Clement is doing across the city in the build-up to today’s game, Rodgers said [Celtic YouTube]: “I think Philippe’s done very well since coming in. You see he’s come in with experience and common sense in terms of setting up the team. All the players are working together, know their job and you can see they’ve benefitted from that. They’ve got good players.
“I’m looking forward to the game because it should be a football game. The last number of weeks we’ve played a lot against back fives and teams sitting low on the field. This should hopefully be a really good football game. In terms of Philippe, he’s come in and done very well.”
As alluded to by Rodgers, today’s game may well be much more like a European fixture for the Bhoys than the usual Scottish Premiership fare.
Rangers will be looking to get possession and territory in the game rather than just setting up to frustrate the reigning champions. While that carries danger, it could also play to Celtic’s strengths.
The Bhoys need to produce one of their best performances of the season in the process, however.
It requires a big effort to get the job done, but backed by a 60,000 crowd and coming into the game having stablisied recent poor results, hopefully Celtic can show Clement why the Bhoys have been so dominant in Scottish football in recent years.
In other news, Chris Sutton senses Celtic tactical switch from Brendan Rodgers vs Rangers.
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