Celtic’s defence must lead the way at Ibrox

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Celtic return to Ibrox may leave the players with a warm glow of satisfaction.

When Brendan Rodgers’ men departed Govan on December 29th the title race was very much alive. Fast forward five months and Celtic have hit the afterburners – blowing Rangers away in the process.

Our long unbeaten domestic run means Sunday’s match is nothing more than a box-ticking exercise.

Of course there’s so much more riding on the fixture. Neil Lennon’s men will want to send another statement of intent to their rivals. The prospect of sending Steven Gerrard’s men into the break with their tail between their legs is appealing. To do that, they’ll need to perform better in one key area.

Defend first and foremost

On December 29th, Celtic’s centre-half pairing was Dedryck Boyata and Filip Benkovic. The Croatian was sloppy and hobbled off with an injury just before half-time. The Belgian probably wished he hadn’t gone out for the second-half either.

Kristoffer Ajer and Jozo Simunovic will likely partner up at the back this time round. It’s important that they both set the tone for the entire team by being dominant and assertive in everything they do from the very first minute.

Early defensive mistakes, even slight ones, could get the back of the opposition up. We don’t want to give the Rangers support any encouragement to make the atmosphere any more fervent. If the defenders do their jobs first and foremost then we can build from there.

Having Kieran Tierney back will be a massive improvement from the last match. His expertise at left-back will be much needed while having Callum McGregor back in the midfield will be a bonus too.