No away fans, calamities in Europe and Derek McInnes' Old Firm debut as a manager. In Glasgow, every Old Firm match is big, but going into Sunday there is a sense this game could be seismic. Rangers legend Graeme Souness says the Premier Sports Cup quarter-final is an opportunity for both sides to "put a marker down" as they meet for this first time this season.
But what can we expect as Rangers and Celtic face off ( ) at Ibrox? Celtic have won all six of their Scottish Premiership matches so far this season with 14 goals scored and just three conceded, but that does not quite tell the full story. They squeezed past Dundee at home in their first game of the season, but that was followed by rampant wins at Kilmarnock and Dundee United.
Things looked even better when they put three goals past LASK without response in the first leg of their Champions League play-off, but what occurred the following week was a capitulation of the highest order. Callum McGregor's early goal in Austria had Celtic four goals to the good and heading for the league phase, but LASK mounted the comeback of all comebacks to win 5-1 on the night and 5-4 on aggregate. While the ship has steadied since then and Celtic have won all four of their following league matches, a narrow victory at St Johnstone in midweek was far from convincing, albeit manager Martin O'Neill had made significant changes to his starting line-up.
Previewing Sunday's derby encounter, Celtic great Scott Brown explained the importance of a fast start in this fixture. "As a Celtic player, you want to silence that crowd early doors," he said. "You want to make sure that you keep the ball, you dictate, and if Celtic get an early goal it becomes a nervous Ibrox.
"The big [derby] is always the first game." For Rangers, domestically, it's been a different story. They began the new season with a draw at Dundee United and a defeat to Hibernian, leaving McInnes winless in his first two Premiership matches as manager. But a rampant League Cup win against St Mirren, followed by four league wins on the bounce, and things look a bit rosier heading into Sunday's game at Ibrox.
While things have improved domestically, McInnes' men faced similar embarrassment to their city rivals on the European stage. After finishing third in the league last term, they entered the Europa League third qualifying round. Rangers were beaten 2-1 by Polish outfit Jagiellonia Bialystok in the first leg and their 1-1 draw at home meant they dropped into the Conference League play-offs.
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