Celtic aims to regain momentum against Rangers in derby clash

Two losses in eight days will do strange things to a team sitting top of the table. Celtic enters Sunday’s Old Firm derby against Rangers at Celtic Park having won six from six in the Scottish Premiership, yet carrying the weight of a 3-0 League Cup quarter-final defeat to these same opponents just seven days earlier, plus a 3-1 home reverse against Ferencvaros in the Europa League. Kick-off is scheduled for 12:00 BST on September 20. What’s actually at stake Celtic currently leads the Premiership table with 18 points from six matches and a goal difference of plus 11. Rangers sit third with 13 points from the same number of games. That five-point gap sounds comfortable until you do the simple arithmetic: a Celtic win pushes the lead to eight points, a Rangers win cuts it to two. Celtic is also chasing its 14th consecutive league victory, which would represent the club’s longest winning streak in the Premiership since 2017. For Rangers and their manager Derek McInnes, the stakes carry a different kind of historical weight. McInnes won his first Old Firm derby in charge last week in the League Cup. Win this one too, and he becomes only the second Rangers manager to win his opening tw...