Celtic and Rangers meet again on Sunday, and this one already feels bigger than the calendar suggests it should. Same fixture, same rivals, but a very different mood around the champions.
Celtic limp into the Scottish Premiership clash still bruised from a brutal week: a 3-0 humbling by Rangers in the Premier Sports Cup quarter-finals at Ibrox, followed by a 3-1 Europa League defeat to Ferencvaros. Two heavy blows, one after another. The noise around Martin O'Neill has grown louder with every concession and every missed chance.
And yet, strangely, the table still offers him a platform rather than a trapdoor.
Win on Sunday, and Celtic move eight points clear of their oldest rivals. Lose a third straight game, and that gap shrinks to just two. The margins are thin; the consequences feel anything but.
O’Neill Under Fire, But Defiant
The questions have started to sharpen around O’Neill’s side: the form, the mentality, the new signings. The manager, though, is trying to keep the focus on what is still within his control.
"We're ready to go, we really are," he said. "We're getting prepared for the game. It was a difficult game last Sunday and difficult last night, but we're ready to go."
He knows the optics. A third defeat, going into an international break, would hang over Lennoxtown like a storm cloud.
"It's not the thing that you would look forward to going into an international break on three successive defeats, if that's the case," he admitted. But he pushed back against the idea that the squad is mentally shot. "Confidence, we're far from rock-bottom. We're still in the lead in the league. If we can win this, we can extend the lead. If we don't, going into the international break, we're still going to be in front."
That’s the tightrope: a team stumbling in big games, yet still out in front domestically. The league table offers reassurance; the performances do not.
O’Neill knows they cannot simply ride the emotion of the derby.
"We've got to be a bit more inventive but the crowd will be up for this. The players are capable of turning it around."
New Arrivals Under the Microscope
If the defeat at Ibrox last weekend stung, the manner of it cut even deeper. Several of Celtic’s recent signings struggled to impose themselves, raising doubts about whether they truly understood the intensity and chaos of this fixture.
"It will probably take a little bit more time, but I think anybody who experienced last Sunday, to know what it's all about, it shouldn't need many more lessons," O'Neill said.
That is both a warning and a challenge. The derby is not a classroom; it is an examination. Those who froze at Ibrox will not get long before they are judged again.
Team selection may be shaped by fitness as much as form. O’Neill confirmed that “one or two” players who came off during the defeat to Ferencvaros will need to be assessed before the weekend. Alistair Johnston and Callum Osmand remain out with injury, limiting his options further.
Yang Hyun-Jun is still away with South Korea on international duty, another complication in a week when O’Neill would dearly love stability. The manager has not committed to a change of system, but he has at least hinted at the possibility of adjusting shape to get Kasper Hogh and Camilo Duran together up front. That decision could define the tone of Celtic’s approach: cautious and controlled, or aggressive and front-foot.
Rangers’ Edge – And Their Own Concerns
On the other side of the divide, Rangers arrive with the psychological edge of that 3-0 cup win still fresh. They exposed Celtic’s frailties, punished their errors, and walked away with a scoreline that felt symbolic as much as decisive.
But Rangers have worries of their own.
Striker Ryan Naderi, who led the line in that victory, is a major doubt after suffering an ankle injury during the win over Celtic, following a challenge from Mika Baur. The incident has not been allowed to fade quietly. Rangers have contacted Scottish FA head of refereeing Willie Collum to ask why no further punishment was handed out.
The club’s move adds another layer of friction to a fixture that rarely needs help generating tension.
One unnamed player is also a doubt for the visitors, while left-back Tuur Roomens has returned to training after injury and could come back into contention. His availability offers a timely boost in a position that often comes under intense scrutiny in games of this magnitude.
A Derby With Stakes Beyond the Scoreline
This is not just another early-season meeting. It is a test of Celtic’s resilience, of O’Neill’s authority, of whether the champions can absorb a week of criticism and respond with something more than words.
For Rangers, it is a chance to turn a cup statement into a league surge, to cut the gap to two points and plant real doubt in green-and-white minds before the international break.
Celtic can stretch away. Rangers can close in. One game, two very different futures waiting on the other side of 90 minutes.
