Following a run of three defeats in four games across all competitions, Rangers returned to winning ways with a narrow 1-0 home victory over Aberdeen last weekend.
The Gers initially struggled to make the breakthrough despite dominating proceedings, but they eventually opened the scoring just after the hour mark courtesy of a brilliantly-struck volley from Todd Cantwell.
However, that victory ultimately proved inconsequential in the race for top spot as Celtic clinched the Premiership title with a 2-0 win away at Hearts. A 13-pointq gap separates Rangers in second and Celtic at the summit with just four games remaining, and the Gers are merely playing for pride in their remaining fixtures.
Rangers will be looking to accumulate at least seven points from their final four fixtures, though, which would see them match their points tally from last season, while manager Michael Beale is desperate to end his winless Old Firm run against Celtic.
Indeed, Beale has failed to win any of his first four Old Firm matches as Rangers boss, losing each of his last three after drawing his first 2-2 at Ibrox in January; only William Wilton (eight) and Graeme Murty (five) have ever failed to win each of their first five competitive Old Firm derbies as Rangers manager.
Celtic remain the dominant force in Scotland and they are still on course to win the domestic treble this season after securing their 53rd Premiership title with a 2-0 victory at Tynecastle last weekend.
Following the controversial first-half dismissal of Hearts defender Alex Cochrane on the stroke of half time, Kyogo q scored his 50th Celtic goal to open the scoring midway through the second half, before substitute Oh Hyeon-gyuadded a second to help the Hoops notch up their 11th top-flight title in 12 seasons.
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Ange Postecoglou has successfully led Celtic to back-to-back titles in his first two seasons at the club, and he will be keen to end the season on a high with another Old Firm derby triumph and success in the Scottish Cup final against Inverness Caledonian Thistle on June 3.
Since losing 5-1 to Real Madrid in the Champions League group stage in early November, Celtic have put together an impressive 28-game unbeaten run across all competitions, winning 26 of those matches and scoring at least twice on 25 occasions.
The Hoops have already come out on top in four Old Firm derbies this season, beating Rangers twice in the Premiership and once each in the domestic cups, and Postecoglou’s side can become just the third in the club’s history – after Martin O’Neill’s in 2003-04 and Brendan Rodgers’s in 2016-17 – to beat the Gers five times in a single season in all competitions
