The first trophy of the season will be awarded to one of Rangers or Celtic when the nation’s famed and feared double act duke it out in the Scottish League Cup final on Sunday afternoon.
Since booking their place in the showpiece at Hampden Park with semi-final victories against Aberdeen and Kilmarnock respectively, both Rangers and Celtic have won every match in preparation for a mouthwatering final.
Rangers needed extra time to squeeze past the Dons in last month’s semi, earning a spot in the final thanks to Kemar Roofe’s first goal of the season against an Aberdeen side which had been reduced to 10 men.
The Gers are unbeaten in Michael Beale’s first 14 matches as manager since taking over during the World Cup break, winning 13 of those games with the only dropped points coming in a 2-2 draw against Celtic in January.
Beale insisted his side have improved since Kyogo Furuhashi snatched a point for Celtic at Ibrox with an 88th-minute equaliser – although, Ange Postecoglou made the same argument in an awkward press conference the managers conducted alongside one another.
Sunday’s showdown will be Rangers’ first League Cup final since 2020, when a solitary Christopher Jullien goal earned Celtic the title – the Gers have not hoisted aloft this particular trophy since defeating their Old Firm rivals in 2011.
Rangers have scarcely put a foot wrong since Beale was prised away from Queens Park Rangers in November but they trail Celtic in the Scottish Premiership by the same nine-point gap which Steven Gerrard’s former assistant inherited.
Celtic’s sensational consistency has kept this chasm crowbarred open, with the Bhoys winning an outrageous 22 of their previous 23 domestic matches.
St Mirren were the last Scottish team to defeat Celtic in the hazy days of September, not only beating Postecoglou’s side but keeping them off the scoresheet – which has proven to be an impossible task for the rest of the nation.
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Celtic have the best attack and defence in the Premiership this season, scoring more goals than the division’s bottom three combined; even without the tally of top scorer Furuhashi, Celtic would still have scored more league goals than Rangers this term.
The first goal on Sunday could prove to be crucial as both sides are yet to lose after taking the lead against Scottish opposition this season, dropping a combined six league points from winning positions.
Celtic are not only the defending champions but have claimed Scotland’s secondary cup competition in five of the last six seasons, invariably getting the campaign off to a winning start.
This will be the 433rd competitive Old Firm derbyand the third of this season, with Celtic romping to a 4-0 win at home to Rangers in September before the 2-2 draw at the start of the year.
