An Old Firm clash never needs any extra intrigue, but the first meeting of the season comes amid unrest from both Rangers and Celtic fans.
While the blue side of Glasgow wants their head coach sacked, the green and white side are trying to get rid of their club’s board.
The first Scottish Premiership meeting of the season follows a dismal week for both sides in Europe, with failure to qualify for the Champions League – after Celtic lost on penalties to lowly Kairay Almaty, Rangers were hammered 6-0 by Club Brugge for a 9-1 aggregate defeat.
Sunday 31st August 11:00am
Kick off 12:00pm
Russell Martin has made a dismal start at Ibrox, while Brendan Rodgers is in the final year of his current deal at Celtic and has made no secret about his frustration at the lack of summer signings.
How do things stand?
With Martin yet to win a Scottish Premiership game with Rangers, defeat on Sunday would see them drop nine points behind in the title race after just four games.
The Hoops have won all their first three without conceding, while the hosts have three 1-1 draws and, in two of them, had to come from behind to salvage a point.
It was Rangers’ performances against other teams last season that meant another title loss. They had the better of the Hoops in the Premiership with two wins and a draw after losing the opening game 3-0.
Both sides have failed to reach the Champions League with Europa League campaigns ahead this season.
Could Martin afford to lose?
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A ‘get him out’ message was left for Rangers after they were dumped out of the Champions League following their 6-0 loss against Club Brugge
The Rangers head coach has already lost the faith of the fans after just 85 days in charge, so a defeat to their fiercest rivals would be far from acceptable for them.
A banner urging the board to sack Martin appeared outside Ibrox in the wake of their Brugge battering, with the club’s hierarchy then giving him their backing, for now at least.
Failure to reach the Champions League would not have been a disaster in isolation, but the manner of the defeat, together with his failure to win in the Premiership, means time is very much running out for the former Southampton boss.
Rangers were humiliated in Belgium
He already holds the worst record for any permanent Rangers boss after 10 games.
Not only would a defeat leave Rangers trailing well behind Celtic, it would see them remain in the bottom half of the Scottish Premiership table.
Not many could recover from that start at a club.
Unwanted record for Celtic?
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The final Old Firm clash of last season ended in a 1-1 draw
Brendan Rodgers has won 13 of his 18 Premiership games against Rangers as Celtic manager, with his impressive record really coming apart last season
He could become the first Hoops boss since Gordon Strachan (2007-08) to fail to win in four consecutive Old Firm games.
Celtic are on their worst run against their rivals since 2021 and have not won a match at Ibrox since September 2023.
Callum McGregor will match Scott Brown for the most Old Firm appearances on Sunday – if he plays, he will make his 44th appearance for Celtic against Rangers.
The Celtic fans are frustrated at a lack of transfers this summer, with boss Rodgers and captain McGregor calling for reinforcements.
That tension will only grow if the Celtic boss enters the record books for the wrong reasons.
What do the fans say?
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There was frustration from the Rangers fans as they drew with St Mirren in their last Scottish Premiership game
Stevie Clifford from the Four Lads had a Dream podcast:
“We need to try and win the game. It’s the biggest domestic fixture on the calendar for us.
“It’s already a big task when you think about Celtic being champions and how strong they are.
“We respect that and understand that, but the situation at the moment, the way the away fans were in Brugge, the way they have been in Paisley and Motherwell in previous weeks, I think that that will transcend into the stands at Ibrox.
“Even in the pre-season friendly, I was quite aware of the fans’ feelings towards Russell Martin.
“I don’t think that’s going to be any different. In fact, it might be a really toxic level that maybe the owners and this board aren’t expecting.
“But if this goes wrong on Sunday, which many people fear, then the atmosphere will be reflected in the stands at Ibrox on Sunday and I think it would be wrong to say otherwise.”
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Celtic podcaster Paul John Dykes analyses the club’s dismal showing against Kairat Almaty as they lost their Champions League play-off on penalties
Paul John Dykes from a Celtic State of Mind podcast:
“My prediction is we’ll win that comfortably because we’re much better than the opposition.
“We’ve got problems, but not really domestically. We can often go through periods of time and coast it a bit.
“I think at the weekend, we’ll be fine. We’ll be absolutely fine.
“Our bigger issues are really recruitment and progress in Europe.
“I think the second half of Rodgers’ first season and then the first half of his second season, we looked really good.
“But since then, you know, from the turn of the year, our form has dropped off a cliff. We’ve struggled against Rangers.
“When you speak to the club, they do say get the medals on the table, 42 trophies since the turn of the century, eight doubles, all the trebles, the quadruple treble.
“But at the end of the day, we’re not progressing in Europe and we have regressed massively this season.”
