Barry Ferguson predicts result of Rangers clash v Celtic
Barry Ferguson says Rangers will win against Celtic on Sunday in the Old Firm derby because “they know they need to”, in his Daily Record column.
Rangers currently trail Celtic by three points at the top of the Scottish Premiership table, with the game at Ibrox handing them the chance to take all the momentum in the title race ahead of the final six games.
Former light blues captain Ferguson believes that while a draw isn’t the end of the world, the players know that a win is by far the best result and is backing them to earn a huge 3-2 win on Sunday.
“The truth is, Rangers will win this one because they know they need to,” he said. “Look, a draw is not the end of the world. They’d still be in there fighting for the title as far as the league table is concerned.
“But, in their own heads, they’ll know it’s not enough. With seven games to go, this is their chance to grab the momentum by the throat and they can only do that by taking all the points and by doing to Celtic exactly what Celtic did to them the last time out.
“It’s plain and simple. Come out of the traps as quickly as you can and get after everything in a green and white shirt. Don’t stop until you’ve run right over the top of them. Make them feel the way you did when you left Parkhead with your tails between your legs.
“I’m fully expecting an absolute humdinger of a derby with goals at both ends.
“But my gut tells me Rangers will come out on top by the odd goal in five. Nothing less than a win will do when they walk back through that front door.”
Must-win
It’s not often we do this, but we have to disagree with Ferguson here. This is a must-win game for Rangers.
Three points in six games isn’t an insurmountable lead at all, especially considering the strength of the Rangers squad and the fact that there is another Old Firm game to come before the end of the season.
However if Celtic are able to come to Ibrox in front of 52,000 fans and not get beaten then they will only be boosted ahead of the run-in and that will just bruise the pride of Rangers.
A win is the only result that keeps this title race alive and it would swing it in favour of the Blues by a fair distance too.
A 3-2 win would be great fun, but would also affect all our hearts, so fingers crossed it’s a bit more straightforward than that. At the end of the day though, a win is a win.
In other Rangers news, Ally McCoist thinks ‘time is right’ for Rangers ace to take his chance v Celtic