Celtic sit one point ahead of Rangers, who have a game in hand; John Beaton will referee the match; Chris Sutton and Kris Boyd preview the game at Ibrox... watch Rangers vs Celtic live on Sky Sports on Sunday from 11am, kick-off 12pm
Sunday 7 April 2024 12:12, UK
It is the pivotal fixture in the Scottish Premiership title race. Rangers host Celtic at Ibrox on Sunday in a match which could go a long way to deciding where the league trophy ends up in May.
The two sides meet for the third time this season, live on Sky Sports with kick-off at 12pm, with the two Glasgow rivals both harbouring real hopes of taking the title.
Celtic go into Sunday's encounter one point ahead of Rangers in the table - but Philippe Clement's side have a game in hand, so either team could take real control of the race with a victory.
Who else to preview the game than former Celtic striker Chris Sutton and former Rangers forward Kris Boyd? The Sky Sports pair give their thoughts on Sunday's crucial fixture...
Sutton: According to Kris Boyd, Rangers have already won it! He makes Rangers favourites so it's theirs to lose, isn't it?
Brendan Rodgers has a good record against Rangers. You'd rather have him in the dugout than not. He has only lost one in 15 Old Firm games. They've been very good in both of the games against Rangers this season, they went to Ibrox and won with that wonderful Kyogo [Furuhashi] goal.
But Celtic will go there and know this is a different Rangers team. Looking back at results and performances - the last manager was a bluffer - they've now got a manager in who knows his stuff and has galvanised the team a lot. They're moving in the right direction.
But it's impossible to call. That's the beauty of this game. Anything can happen, any scoreline.
Boyd: I do expect Rangers to win the league. Given it's an Old Firm game at home, you have to fancy them. Under Philippe Clement, Rangers have turned it around - they look a different team altogether. That home advantage could be key.
But we've seen it before with Celtic - that pace up the top end of the pitch with Kyogo and Daizen Maeda - so Rangers are going to have to defend really well. But I'm looking forward to it.
Getting a first Old Firm win for Clement would be huge. Not only for himself, but in the context of the title race. Rangers are in a good place.
Sutton: It's a case of how fit Callum McGregor is. If he's been sitting on a bike in a gym for five or six weeks, it's not quite the same as training so how much work he does this week is key.
Brendan Rodgers will have a decision to make and Celtic are a better team with McGregor in it. But if he's not fit, or even half-fit, then he can't play.
But it's a big boost for Celtic having Reo Hatate back with him coming through against Livingston, plus Cameron Carter-Vickers too.
Boyd: It's a boost for a title run-in, but I can't see [Abdallah] Sima starting. I think Rangers are pretty settled in that area with Fabio Silva playing off the left and Cyriel Dessers playing through the middle.
But with the start Sima had at Rangers - before he had that bad injury - Clement will be delighted to have him back and fit. He wants to run in behind and he's already shown that he knows where the goal is.
Boyd: If you look back to the first Old Firm match this season at Ibrox, that fantastic Kyogo strike silenced Ibrox so it shows it can turn.
It can have its plus points but at the same time, it can go against you in exactly the same way it happened there. It's up to Rangers to start the game positive and get the fans behind them.
Since Philippe Clement has come in, the Rangers fans have seen a change and a shift. They've got behind the team a lot more.
The frustrations were there before with Michael Beale, they're not there anymore. It's over to the players now to give the fans something to shout about on Sunday.
Sutton: It's easy playing at Celtic and Rangers when things are going well. Rangers only need a dodgy start at Ibrox on Sunday - a poor 30 minutes where Celtic can take the lead - and then they'll all be hammering the players! Just wait and see…
Away fans being allowed back at the Old Firm next season is encouraging. It's a first step. We all want it back to the way it used to be with a full allocation.
We need that as a fixture, it's a big game around the world. I suspect people would have been looking at the no away fans and thinking: 'This is really petty, isn't it?'
It's not fitting of the game and we're getting it back to where it should be.
John Beaton will referee the match at Ibrox, just a month after Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers was charged by the Scottish FA for branding him 'incompetent'.
Rodgers was banned for their win at Livingston on Sunday for breaching of SFA Disciplinary Rule 72 following defeat to Hearts at Tynecastle as he called out referee Don Robertson and Beaton, who was in the VAR room on that occasion, for the controversial decisions to send off Yang and award a penalty to Hearts following a handball from Tomoki Iwata.
The linesman will be Daniel McFarlane and Dougi Potter with Nick Walsh the VAR referee. He will be assisted on the technology by Frank Connor while Willie Collum will act as the fourth official.
Watch Rangers vs Celtic live on Sky Sports Football on Saturday from 11am; kick-off 12pm
You can now start receiving messages and alerts for the latest breaking sports news, analysis, in-depth features and videos from our dedicated WhatsApp channel!
