GIGANTIC CELTIC-RANGERS PREVIEW

CELTIC V RANGERS (SCOTTISH PREMIERSHIP; SUNDAY 12TH MARCH 2017, 12:00PM)

The big game that doesn't matter - according to fibbers - comes to town again as Celtic aim to mathematically - no laughing at the back - eliminate Rangers from the 'title race' by beating them for the fourth time this season.

Team Selection: With James Forrest returning to the squad, the only noticeable absentee is Tom Rogic...unless Simunovic is still out. After Lustig had a poor game in the New Year Glasgow Derby - he was given the runaround by Barrie McKay at times - I would hope that Gamboa starts but that seems unlikely. Nir Bitton has played slightly better recently so he will keep his place. The aforementioned Forrest or Patrick Roberts are both contending for one starting place, I would think that Forrest would get the nod. Leigh Griffiths is likely to be on the bench again despite his excellent performance against St Mirren last week.

Previous Meetings: Three games, three wins. We started with the laughably easy 5-1 victory at Celtic Park in September, featuring the first Glasgow Derby league hat-trick since 1966

Then came the 1-0 going on 6-0 victory in the Betfred Cup semi-final

Then came the 2-1 going on 6-1 victory on New Year's Eve at Ibrox, our first victory there since 2011* *note: I couldn't embed the game highlights due to technical difficulties so here's Sinclair's winning goal

Prediction: Some misguided individuals have been predicting a Celtic victory by the margin of five or six goals, but I just can't see that happening. In our last two encounters with Rangers this season we have only scored three goals despite being incredibly dominant, and Rangers will be trying to prove a point to their new manager. So whilst I do think Celtic will win, and Dembele will once again make the difference, the game could be a lot closer than what many people think.

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