On a high after lifting the Premiership title for the 52nd time last season, Celtic have begun the new campaign in exceptional form, winning all six competitive matches and scoring a remarkable 25 goals in the process.
The Hoops maintained their 100% record in the Premiership when they demolished Dundee United 9-0 at Tannadice last weekend to record their biggest-ever competitive away victory.
Ange Postecoglou’s side have since secured safe passage through to the third round of the Scottish League Cup after the holders eased past Ross County 4-1 in Dingwall on Wednesday night, with Callum McGregor, Giorgos Giakoumakis, Daizen Maeda and James Forrest all on the scoresheet.
Celtic are now set to face their toughest challenge yet this term when Rangers step onto the Parkhead turf this weekend, but they will be full of confidence and have so far proven exactly why they are the team to beat in Scotland.
The Hoops are unbeaten in their last three Premiership meetings with Rangers, but they have only won two of their last 11 encounters against the Gers across all competitions.
While securing victory against their bitter Glaswegian rivals is imperative, Celtic are sure to have one eye on next week’s opening Champions League group-stage match at home to Spanish giants and current holders Real Madrid.
The Gers hit Ross County for four in the Premiership last weekend, with Antonio Colak (2), John Lundstram and Steven Davis all on the scoresheet at Ibrox, before a much-changed side beat Queen of the South 3-1 in the second round
of the Scottish League Cup on Tuesday – a game which saw Scott Arfield bag a brace and teenage debutant Robbie Urescore his first senior goal.
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Since losing 2-0 against Union SG in the first leg of a Champions League qualifier, Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s side have put together an eight-game unbeaten run in all competitions and have scored at least twice on seven of those occasions.
However, their impressive run will come under threat when they lock horns with high-flying Celtic, who have lost only one of their last 20 competitive matches across all tournaments – a 2-1 extra-time defeat to the Gers in last season’s Scottish Cup semi-finals.
That cup victory is the only time Van Bronckhorst has triumphed against the Hoops as he is yet to win a Premiership Old Firm derby in three attempts; Only William Wilton in 1892,
William Waddellin 1971 and Graeme Murty in 2018 have failed to win any of their first four top-flight meetings in charge of the Gers against Celtic.
