By Daniel Feliciano

16th Apr, 2022 | 12:45pm

Tam McManus says Celtic 'a certainty' to beat Rangers in Scottish Cup semi-final

Tam McManus believes Celtic are ‘a certainty’ to beat Rangers in the Scottish Cup semi-final this weekend at Hampden Park, he told McBookie.

The Old Firm take each other on for the second time in two weeks for a place in the Scottish Cup final on Easter Sunday, just days after Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s side made the Europa League semi-finals.

But after losing at Ibrox two weeks ago, BBC pundit McManus says their joy will be short lived and says Celtic are the better side so should win the game.

“I think Celtic are a certainty to win,” he said. “I fancy Celtic strongly to beat Rangers.

“Rangers obviously had a big game Thursday night, Celtic are well rested. I think Celtic are the better side.”

Ouch

This is a game that just two weeks ago people were calling a 50-50 fixture because of how well matched the sides were, but now it’s apparently a certainty. How fickle.

Rangers are a top side, and while they’ve struggled in the last two games against Celtic they have more than enough quality to win the game should they perform to their own standards.

Playing extra-time in midweek will obviously not have been ideal, but players like Aaron Ramsey and Ryan Jack were brought off early while Kemar Roofe found the net in that extra period.

Their performances since that defeat at Ibrox have been encouraging as they’ve scored seven goals and conceded just one, while dominating the play completely in both fixtures.

If they can assert their dominance once again and keep the crowd in the game early on then there is no reason at all why they can’t make it to the final and upset their fierce rivals.

In other Rangers news, Tam McManus hammers Rangers ace who ‘flatters to deceive’ after performances this season