Jackie McNamara pinpoints Celtic key threats that can ‘hurt’ Rangers at Ibrox

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Celtic take on Rangers at Ibrox today and will look to extend their Scottish Premiership lead to 17 points under Brendan Rodgers.

The Bhoys come into this one full of momentum after an unbeaten start to the season, while their rivals are looking to recover from dropping points in consecutive matches against St Mirren and Motherwell.

Brendan Rodgers has only ever lost one of his 20 meetings in charge of Celtic against Rangers but will know the challenge ahead won’t be straightforward amid an absence of visiting supporters on Glasgow’s southside.

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
1	CelticCeltic	18	16	2	0	52	4	48	50
2	RangersRangers	18	11	3	4	31	13	18	36
3	AberdeenAberdeen	19	10	4	5	31	26	5	34
4	Dundee UtdDundee Utd	19	8	7	4	28	20	8	31

Key:

Position 1 – 6 : Championship Round
Position 7 – 12 : Relegation Round

Numerically, the Bhoys are guaranteed to retain an 11-point lead at a minimum today, at the least come full-time, though the chance to effectively end the Scottish Premiership title race is the carrot should they see off their rivals for a third time this term.

Ahead of the mouthwatering clash, Jackie McNamara has pinpointed where he believes Celtic can exploit Rangers and the men most likely to carry that task out.

Jackie McNamara on where Celtic can ‘hurt’ Rangers

Speaking on the Scottish Football Podcast, McNamara believes Celtic can ‘hurt’ Rangers in between their full-back and centre-back areas and has urged the Bhoys’ key men to put on another display to be proud of at Ibrox.

He stated: “Always the spine; the spine of the team starts with the goalie. Schmeichel has been a brilliant signing. Carter-Vickers in front of him, then you’ve got Callum McGregor, makes them tick, he starts them off then build them into the wee areas.

“Then Kyogo leading the line, Maeda does a fantastic job for the team in pushing Tavernier back. That’s the areas I feel Celtic can hurt them, in between the full-backs and the centre-backs where they’ve caused them problems before.

“I just think the spine of Celtic’s team is so much stronger, and that’s what’s given them so much joy this year.”

Brendan Rodgers has key Celtic line-up decisions to make

With every Glasgow Derby comes pressure on the manager to pick the correct line-up for the occasion, which isn’t always as simple as one might think.

Rodgers has a fairly settled group to choose from. James Forrest misses out due to injury, but he is the only significant absence heading into the clash.

Alex Valle and Greg Taylor are competing for the left-back slot while picking between Arne Engels and Paulo Bernardo will be another point of contention among supporters.

However, the Irishman has a better record than anyone in this derby, so fans will be happy to leave the decision making down to the man in the dugout.