Rangers two results from SPFL title ahead of ‘massive’ Celtic clash – Sky Sports pundit
Rangers will win the Scottish Premiership title if they beat Celtic and Dundee in back to back games, believes Craig Moore.
The Australian told Sky Sports on 3 April ahead of a “massive” Old Firm derby at the weekend (7 April) that the Gers are now two results from a first league title in three seasons if they can get ahead over the next week.
Philippe Clement’s side go into the Glasgow clash at Ibrox one point behind Celtic but with a game in hand after their trip to Dens Park was postponed ahead of the international break and rescheduled for midweek after the derby (10 April), meaning two quick-fire wins could leave them five points clear at the top by next Wednesday.
Moore said: “For me as as big an Old Firm game as I’ve seen in a long, long time. I think that if Rangers were to win this match and also win their rescheduled game against Dundee I think Rangers will win the title.
“I think it’s massive. At this stage the momentum, and obviously the short period between now and the end of the season, I think it would be too big [to overturn] if Rangers were to get their noses in front.”
Six points over Celtic and Dundee wins Rangers title – Craig Moore
Under Clement it would be difficult to see the Light Blues letting that sort of lead slip after the split so Moore may well be right.
But it is still a lot easier said than done to get to that point, especially when the record in derby games over the past couple of seasons has been a long way short of what it needs to be.
The wildcard element from the Dundee postponement has the potential to prove an unwanted complication or an unexpected advantage depending on how that result goes, but five points clear heading into next weekend would leave a lot of people very confident over the Gers’ chances.
Clement himself won’t be allowing his players to think like that as he has managed to keep them admirably focused for the most part since he came in.
But the unexpected home defeat by Motherwell prior to the international break shows that they are not infallible in the SPFL and so it would be foolhardy to crown them even if they were to get six points from the next two games.
That said, if Clement gets a maiden Old Firm victory it would be a major statement at a key time and would provide a psychological boost to the players which would put them in a strong position for their remaining fixtures.
The problem of course is that should they contrive to come away from another derby without a victory it would equally hand all of those benefits to Brendan Rodgers’ men.
In other Rangers news, both sides of the Old Firm are predicted to play extra games before they meet each other this week.
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