Rangers v Celtic preview: An Old Firm title decider?

We’re back for the spring blockbuster Old Firm clash and the title feels like it is very much on the line.

The two Scottish behemoths have been running away from the rest of the pack just like the days of old, as if the past ten years never happened.

We preview the crucial derby below.

Ramsey back in form and can Giakoumakis keep scoring?

It could be said that Rangers got back to their very best under Steven Gerrard, ending a 9-year run of Celtic dominance. Then the Liverpool, and now Rangers, legend left for Villa Park and Giovanni van Bronckhorst stepped up. On the other side of Glasgow Ange Postecoglou was brought in to get a floundering Celtic back on-track. The result: The most entertaining SPL title race in over a decade.

Since the arrival of the Australian manager at Celtic Park, the two Glasgow sides have won one apiece, a return to the pre-2012 days of shared spoils. While the two have both kept up a blistering pace all season (Rangers 20 points ahead of 3rd, Celtic 23 points), it was the Hoops who looked like a new side in the last Old Firm outing. Postecoglou setting the team up with an energetic high-press, Celtic played with an intensity the blew away the Blues, going 3-0 in the first 45.

It was a rare off day for The Gers. They are on a 19-game unbeaten run at home and will be welcoming Celtic to Ibrox with the hopes of closing that ever-so-slight 3-point gap with 7 games of the season left.

New man Aaron Ramsey will be looking to get into the mix. He opened his account against Dundee in his last Rangers’ start and will be hoping to add another big derby goal to his resume. The Welshman scored three times for Arsenal in the North London Derby, as well as two cup-winning goals in the FA Cup. He’s definitely a man that can light a spark in the biggest moments.

Aaron Ramsey is 15/2 to open the scoring for Rangers.

Celtic aren’t stuck for players that can find the net either. Georgios Giakoumakis has hit a real purple patch for his club, finding the net 9 times in his last 7 games.

You can back the Greek goal scorer at 8/5 to score at anytime.

Defeat for Ibrox side could hand rivals the title

In what is as close to a title-decider as you can get with 7 games left to play, we are faced with the old cliché of the unstoppable force coming up against the immovable object. Rangers are unbeaten in 19 league games at Ibrox (not to mention the invincible season last year), while Celtic’s unbeaten run in the league stretches back to September.

If Celtic can get a win, the title is all-but-theirs, and they’re 9/5 to wrap things up. Another home win for Rangers would be the biggest of the season, keeping them in the title fight, which is 6/4 with William Hill.

Of course, sometimes an immovable object meeting an unstoppable force just results in a draw. The teams are 11/5 to share the spoils on the day.

Check out all the latest football betting odds at William Hill