The Scottish Premiership may already be out of reach, but Rangers are aiming to claim Old Firm bragging rights at the start of 2025.
This has been a difficult season for Philippe Clement’s Gers, and the Scottish champions in 2020/21. they are already 14 points behind the runaway leaders Celtic. Few are convinced of Clement’s capacity to return Rangers to the promised land, and a heavy defeat at Ibrox on Thursday could spell the Belgian’s death sentence.
Although this game is still one of the fiercest in world football, it has been dominated by the Hoops in recent years. Rangers they did not manage to win in any of the previous seven meetings, and they start this derby in a weaker form.
Here’s the squad Clement could pick for Celtic’s visit at the start of the new year.
GK: Jack Butland – There is no doubt about Butland’s number one status ahead of the new year. Butland has started 17 league games this season and has logged more minutes than any Rangers player.
RB: Dujon Sterling – Injuries have pushed Sterling into a starting role of late and the Englishman, who is also adept in midfield, would potentially switch to right-back with James Tavernier out injured.
CB: Leon King – The 20-year-old is in line for a rare start on a big occasion following Tavernier’s injury. King hasn’t played a single league minute this season, but the central defender’s absences could force Clement into the mix.
CB: Leon Balogun – Balogun missed Sunday’s draw at Motherwell after picking up a knock on Boxing Day, but Clement desperately needs him back in the Rangers back line.
LB: Ridvan Yilmaz – Yilmaz’s career in Glasgow never got off the ground and he is a name to watch out for in the January transfer window amid reports of a potential return to Turkiye.
CM: Mohamed Diomande – A regular Clement this term, Diomande is a versatile shopper capable of multiple roles. The midfielder scored in the Scottish League Cup final defeat of Rangers in December.
CM: Nicolas Raskin – Clement’s compatriot is a hard-working operator who is seemingly never far from a booking. Ibrox will look to Raskin to fire up the crowd once or twice on Thursday.
RM: Vaclav Cerny – The loanee has enjoyed a fairly productive spell so far, scoring seven times in the Scottish Premiership. The striker-loving Czech joins Cyril Dessers at the top of Rangers’ goalscoring charts this term.
AM: Nedim Bajrami – The scorer of Albania’s 23-second goal against Italy at Euro 2024 has not offered much in terms of final third production this term, but he is a relentless operator who performs a key tactical function for Clement.
LM: Ianis Hagi – Rangers have few options in wide areas, especially after Rabbi Matondo returned from injury at the weekend, but we could see Hagi moving down the left to get to Alistair Johnston.
ST: Hamza Igamane – Igamane is adept in the spread, but could get the starting job on Thursday given his scoring form in recent weeks. The 22-year-old scored twice off the bench to rescue a point at Motherwell last time out.
READ THE LATEST NEWS, TRANSFER RUMORS AND MATCH REACTIONS
