Celtic vs Rangers - prediction, team news, lineups

First takes on second in the Scottish Premiership on Sunday afternoon, when Celtic host Old Firm rivals Rangers at Celtic Park. 

The hosts are flawless in the league with six wins from six, with the visitors trailing the leaders by five points.

Celtic may be flawless in the Scottish Premiership, with six wins from six games, but Martin O'Neill's side have had a far from perfect start to the 2026-27 campaign.

The Bhoys have suffered the devastation of failing to qualify for the Champions League at the final hurdle, humiliatingly losing 5-1 in the second leg to LASK Linz to be eliminated 5-4 on aggregate. 

Despite initially bouncing back from that defeat with four straight Scottish Premiership triumphs, Celtic have since suffered back-to-back losses heading into this match. 

The Bhoys were comfortably defeated 3-0 by their Old Firm rivals in the Scottish League Cup quarter-final, followed by a 3-1 loss to Ferencvaros in the opening game of the Europa League league phase. 

O'Neill's side were punished for several defensive errors in those two losses, and Celtic will be eager to put those behind them and win back the favour of their frustrated fans when they meet with Rangers once again on Sunday. 

Rangers, in comparison, endured a slow start to the season, including failing to win any of their opening four matches across all competitions - featuring their Europa League elimination. 

However, the Gers eventually found their feet under new boss Derek McInnes, with Rangers winning seven of their next eight matches, with the sole exception being a disappointing 1-0 loss and penalty defeat to Jablonec in the Conference League playoff qualifying round.

Five of those seven wins have come in their last five matches, including the brilliant 3-0 triumph against Celtic in Rangers' last outing, and McInnes will be hoping his side can replicate that result at Celtic Park. 

The Gers will have to overcome the challenge of playing at Celtic's home ground, where Rangers have won only two of their last 12 visits, while McInnes' men will also be without the support of an away crowd - with all away fans banned in Old Firm matches for this season.

The hosts are without Alistair Johnston, Callum Osmand and Jota due to ongoing injury issues, while Yang Hyun-Jun is unavailable due to his involvement at the Asian Games with South Korea.

O'Neill is likely to make changes from the side that lost to Ferencvaros in midweek, with Benjamin Nygren and Kasper Hogh likely to start in attack, while Tony Ralston and Auston Trusty could start in defence.

Meanwhile, Rangers remain without captain Lawrence Shankland due to a hamstring issue, while Youssef Chermiti is also ruled out with a cruciate ligament injury, meaning Kevin Kelsy - who scored in last weekend's win against Celtic - should keep his place in attack.

McInnes is likely to name an entirely unchanged team from last weekend's victory, and the manager will be further boosted by the potential returns of Tuur Rommens and Jose Cifuentes from injury.

Johnstone; Ralston, Carter-Vickers, Trusty, Scales; McGregor, Baur; Hassan, Nygren, Duran; Hogh

Pandur; Sterling, Fernandez, Makhanya, Penrice; Raskin, Neil; Naderi, Kim, Gassama; Kelsy

Celtic will be short on confidence following back-to-back defeats, while Rangers are full of belief after their winning run, leading us to expect the away side to secure a result.

However, a full house of home fans at Celtic Park will make this a difficult visit for the Gers, and for that reason, we predict this game will end all square.

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

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