Alex McLeish makes prediction for Rangers clash v Celtic
We’re delighted to welcome former Rangers manager Alex McLeish as our exclusive columnist. Each week he’ll be giving his views on the biggest talking points at Ibrox…
Alex McLeish predicts a close game when Rangers take on Celtic in the Scottish Cup fourth round at Ibrox this weekend.
As it stands, the Old Firm is set to take place on Saturday with a 4pm kick-off but the Daily Record reports the SFA could move the tie as it will clash with Prince Philip’s funeral.
Both teams are in good domestic form ahead of the game with Celtic beating Livingston 6-0 on Saturday while the Gers managed to get a good 2-1 win over Hibernian to keep their hopes of an invincible league season alive.
McLeish says that while Rangers are not winning games as easy they were, Celtic are having to deal with a lot of off-the-pitch issues at the moment.
Although the ex-Gers manager expects that not to be an issue for the Celtic players, he’s suggested it could still play a role this weekend in the Scottish Cup.
Speaking to Ibrox News, McLeish said: “Rangers and Celtic are of the nature that they believe they’re going to be winning the cups every year. If you don’t have that mentality, you’re not going to be there for that long.
“You could say it’s a cup final come early but other teams will have a say about that as well.
“Rangers are in the driving seat and it looks, at this moment, as if they’re not on top form. They can still take points from Celtic in the league but in a cup tie, it’s winner takes all.
“I really still feel strongly about Rangers at the moment. Celtic, in the papers, are still mainly about new recruitment and the process of hiring a new manager but also chief executives et cetera. The players will get on with it, they’re great professionals and they have rallied a little bit in the last few weeks in terms of performances and results.
“It will perhaps be a much closer game than people were tipping a couple of weeks ago.”
Rangers are unbeaten against Celtic this season, winning two and drawing one of the three Old Firm fixtures.
With the two fierce rivals set to play each other again in the league before the season ends, it’s exciting that we’ve been handed an extra Old Firm derby in the Scottish Cup.
While it would have been great for this game to have been the final, you get the feeling that whoever wins this weekend should go on to win the competition overall.
Let’s hope it’s the Gers but with the way Steven Gerrard’s men have stepped up in big games this season, you’d imagine they’ll be able to see out yet another win and book their place in the next round.
In other Rangers news, Michael Stewart went berserk on BBC Sportsound after the Gers went ahead against Hibernian.