Rangers vs Celtic - prediction, team news, lineups

Rangers welcome Old Firm rivals Celtic to Ibrox Stadium on Sunday for a Scottish League Cup quarter-final encounter. 

The Gers defeated St Mirren 5-1 in the second round, while the Bhoys progressed past Dundee United with a 4-0 triumph.

Rangers head into Sunday's Scottish League Cup quarter-final after appearing to have finally found their feet under new boss Derek McInnes. 

After failing to win any of their first four matches in 2026-27, followed by two wins and a devastating Conference League elimination to Jablonec on penalties, Rangers have now won all of their last four games. 

McInnes' side have only managed to win those four matches by one-goal margins, leaving plenty of room for improvement, but the Gers will still be encouraged by their upturn in results. 

Rangers will now aim to extend that winning streak when they take on Old Firm rivals Celtic for the first time this season, with the Gers hoping to end a three-game winless run against their neighbours.

Celtic are also heading into Sunday's cup clash off the back of four consecutive wins, having impressively bounced back from the heartbreak of their Champions League elimination. 

The Bhoys held a 4-0 aggregate lead over LASK Linz in the playoff qualifying round, but a collapse from Celtic saw them concede five goals without reply, leading to their catastrophic elimination from the Champions League 5-4 on aggregate.

That remains Celtic's only loss this season, with Martin O'Neill's side emerging victorious from each of their eight other matches across all competitions. 

The Bhoys will, therefore, be confident of maintaining that momentum when they take on Rangers, although they have struggled at Ibrox in recent years. 

Celtic have failed to win any of their last six visits to Rangers' home ground, although the Bhoys did win on penalties in the Scottish FA Cup quarter-finals last season. 

That penalty triumph was marred by disorder from both sets of fans, and, as a result, the SPFL have made the ruling that no visiting fans will be permitted at the fixture in any competition this term. 

Celtic, therefore, will have to make do without any support at Rangers' home ground, making their latest visit to Ibrox an even tougher challenge.

Rangers are set to be without Tuur Rommens, Youssef Chermiti, Jose Cifuentes and Lawrence Shankland due to ongoing injury issues.

Bojan Miovski, who scored the late winner against St Mirren last time out, could start alongside Ryan Don Naderi in attack, with Badredine Bouanani and Djeidi Gassama retaining their spots on the wing.

Meanwhile, Celtic remain unable to call upon the services of Callum Osmand, Alistair Johnston and Jota due to injury problems.

Kasper Hogh returned to the side in midweek after missing three games due to injury, and the summer signing is likely to retain his starting spot in attack on Sunday.

Pandur; Sterling, Fernandez, Makhanya, Penrice; Raskin, Neil; Bouanani, Naderi, Gassama; Miovski

Johnstone; Donovan, Murray, Trusty, Scales; McGregor, Baur; Hassan, Nygren, Duran; Hogh

Rangers may have experienced a considerable upturn in form, but the Gers have still looked far from convincing at times under McInnes. 

Meanwhile, Celtic are unbeaten in domestic competition this season and have not lost in any of their last three clashes with the Gers, and we expect that record to continue with a Celtic victory here.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

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