IT’s Super Sunday in the Scottish Premiership this weekend – with two big showdowns taking place in Glasgow and Dundee.
Dundee United travel across the street to Dens Park to face rivals Dundee at 2pm, but first things first is the small matter of the Old Firm derby at Ibrox.
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Under-fire Russell Martin faces a make-or-break clash against the Hoops just 11 GAMES into his tenure in Glasgow.
He WILL be in the dugout for the derby after receiving backing from Rangers chiefs despite calls for him to be sacked following Wednesday night’s humiliation in Belgium.
Brendan Rodgers, meanwhile, has also been feeling the heat at Parkhead this week following Celtic’s catastrophic Champions League exit in Kazakhstan.
Michel-Ange Balikwisha has been officially announced by the club as their latest signing, while left-back Marcelo Saracchi is in the building and is waiting to be confirmed as Celtic‘s next recruit.
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Both players could be involved at Ibrox, while Celtic are also looking at more deals before the window closes, along with their rivals across the city.
It’s the biggest game in the Scottish Premiership league calendar.
And SunSport writers have given their verdicts on how they see the huge clash going.
ROBERT GRIEVE
Rangers 1 Celtic 3
Rangers are so disheveled right now that it seems certain Celtic will win this Old Firm derby.
Russell Martin is a man under pressure but the players’ lack of fighting spirit has been nothing short of pathetic.
If Gers are to have any chance Martin must play Nico Raskin and James Tavernier ahead of Joe Rothwell and Max Aarons.
Brendan Rodgers’ side are likely to be lethargic after their exhausting trip to Kazakhstan where they let themselves down badly.
But if Celtic can take the lead at Ibrox it’ll turn toxic and there will only be one winner.
DEREK McGREGOR
Rangers 2 Celtic 1
Rangers will give struggling Russell Martin breathing space and turn the screw on Brendan Rodgers and the Celtic board.
This derby clash of the humiliated Euro flops won’t exactly see defences on top and the pressure on either club will be intense.
Rangers’ thrashing by Club Brugge has intensified Hoops’ fans expectations for Rodgers’ side to end a two year stretch without an Ibrox win while also producing a first league victory over them since September, 2024.
A triumph for the champions would put them nine points clear.
But, sticking my neck out, I think Celtic’s Kazakhstan hangover will carry over to Govan.
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ROGER HANNAH
Rangers 0 Celtic 1
A team that can’t score goals against a team that can’t stop shipping them.
The moveable object meets the resistible force at Ibrox on Sunday.
Both are out of the Champions League after abject displays in Europe in midweek.
The wrath of one set of fans is directed at the dugout, the fury of the other directed at the boardroom.
Rarely has a derby, especially one just four games into the league season, taken place against a backdrop of such undiluted rage among supporters.
They can’t both lose this one, though.
And I reckon Celtic’s greater Old Firm experience – even at a time when they’re way below their top levels – can see them through.
I’m just not sure who’ll score it for them…
DAVID FRIEL
Rangers 1 Celtic 1
Both teams come into this game off the back of horrible European defeats and a draw would maybe suit them.
Celtic haven’t been great at Ibrox recently and Rangers are on a horror run, so this could be a tight affair.
It’s hard to see Russell Martin’s team keeping a clean sheet but they should be able to cause some problems up the other end.
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ROBERT THOMSON
Rangers 0 Celtic 3
Where do you even start with this? Given their respective Champions League humiliations this will come down to who is scarred less by their Euro exit and that’s most likely to be Celtic.
Brendan Rodgers‘ side are far from a functioning unit right now but they should still have enough to see off this shambolic Rangers team.
Some of the players Russell Martin has brought in look like wee laddies who have no idea what’s hit them and that’s probably only going to get even worse in their first taste of an Old Firm game.
ROBERT MARTIN
Rangers 0 Celtic 3
Rangers in disarray, Celtic in crisis, it’s a game both sides could probably do without right now.
The flip side is a win at Ibrox could at least go some way to getting one of them back on track.
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The bad news for Gers is I can only see one outcome, and that’s an away win.
And if Brendan Rodgers’ side get ahead early it could be a bad, bad afternoon for Gers.
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