Celtic and Rangers meet in the Scottish League Cup final on Sunday as Hampden Park hosts the first trophy of the season.
The Brendan Rodgers team, which is nine positions ahead of the Première-Hip ranking, performed an impressive performance in the middle of the week at the tie against Dinamo Zagreb in the UEFA Champions League. As expected, they embark on this game as favorites to get the trophy that their Old Firm rivals won a year ago.
The Rangers have struggled to maintain consistency in the League, but have maintained their most productive actions in matches against formidable rivals. They got a very good 4-1 victory against Nice in the Europa League last month, and have shown symptoms of improvement since their 3-0 defeat against Celtic in their last derby on September 1. Probably 1-1 on Thursday against Tottenham in Ibrox. They have ended with a house victory.
The Sporting News takes a look at the latest news of the team and the alignments planned for this clash.
Also: The Old Firm rivalry: Why is it and who won the top trophies?
Right-back Alistair Johnson was a doubt with a hip problem sustained in the 0-0 draw with Dinamo Zagreb, but he is fit to start the final.
Daizen Maeda scored a hat-trick in the 6-0 thrashing of Aberdeen in the semifinal, and he partners Nicolas-Gerrit Kuhn and compatriot Kyogo Furuhashi in attack. The latter scored both goals in Celtic’s final win back in 2023.
USMNT defender Cameron Carter-Vickers awards the trophy for the third time.
Celtic starting lineup (4-3-3, right to left): Schmeichel (GK) — Johnston, Carter-Vickers, Trusty, Taylor — Bernardo, McGregor, Hatate — Kuhn, Furuhashi, Maeda
Celtic Substricts: Scales, Palma, Idah, Valle, Sinisalo, Hyun-Jun, Engels, Forrest, Ralston
Injured: Thiago HolmSuspended: None
More: all the news from the EPP club | Premier League Team Team Schedule for 2024/25 | Latest rankings of the top flight scorers.
Oscar Cortes returned to the Rangers bench in their 1-1 midweek Europa League draw with Tottenham, but he and centre-back John Souttar, who limped off in that game, miss out this weekend. Leon Balogun and Robin Propper start.
The striker Hamza Igamane helps maintain his position despite entering the spurs in the opposite field. Ianis Hagi and Nedim Bajami begin as support, while Mohamed Diomande enters the midfield.
The extreme Rabbi Matondo is close to returning but is still completely fit, and midfielder Tom Lawrence has recovered from a leg injury suffered in the semifinal. Neraysho Kasanwirjo has been absent for a long time.
Start line of the Rangers (4-2-3-1, from the left): Butland (GK) – Tavernier, Propper, Balogun, Jefte – Diomande, Raskin – Cerny, Bejrami, Hagi – Igamane
Rangers subs: Yilmaz, Barron, Dessers, Dowell, Sterling, Kelly, King, McCausland, Danilo
Injured: Lawrence (leg), Kasanwirjo (knee), Matondo (hamstring), Oscar Cortes (muscle), Souttar (hamstring)Suspended: None
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Joe Wright is editor in Chief of Sporting News and manages world football and British team. He previously worked for Goll. com before spending six years as a statistics component, new editorial services, covering sports worldwide, including football, tennis, boxing, NBA, rugby and athletics. Joe has a great experience covering some of the most important football events, adding two finals of the UEFA Champions League, the 2016 Eurocup, the 2017 Confederations Cup and the 2018 World Cup, which included the final in Moscow.