A rivalry that goes back into the late 1800s, the two Scottish teams have met more times than history books can keep track of! Nevertheless, there is indeed an official record, and it puts the Rangers ahead of Celtic with 55 derby wins.
Celtic are not that far behind either with 51 wins and if you are someone who follows Scottish football closely, you already know that Celtic has absolutely dominated the Scottish football leagues ever since they won the 2011 – 12 Scottish Premier League. Will they be able to turn the tables in 2022 and take their number of wins to an even 52? Let’s see what the odds of that are right now.
A Salty Reminder: What Happened at the Last Derby?
Rangers snatched the victory from Celtic on 29th August 2021 at home, thanks to a powerful header from Filip Helander at the 66th minute. Some blame must be shared by the tournament’s top scorer Odsonne Edouard, who could have put Celtic ahead of their arch-rivals in the first half. Unfortunately, Edouard missed his chance (less than 18-feet from the goal) and the match ended 1 – 0 in favour of Rangers at full-time.
After the loss, Celtic ended up slipping back to the third spot while Rangers perched on top of the Scottish Premiership table. While Celtic have managed to climb back up to the second position again, it remains to be seen what will happen in their next meeting and how the league tables end up.
It should be noted that Celtic had previously won the first 7 leagues, ever since the Scottish Premiership was formed in 2013. They lost the Premiership for the first time to Rangers last season and it’s never nice to be dethroned after retaining the Scottish Champions 9-times at a stretch (2011 – 12 to 2019 – 20) and winning the Scottish Premiership 7-times in a row (2013 -14 to 2019 – 20)! There will be a lot of tension leading up to the next derby match in the 2021 – 22 Scottish Premiership.
The Date is Set
The next derby match between the two arch-rivals from Glasgow will kick off at noon, on Sunday the 2nd of January 2022. This is a home match for Celtic. Note that the previous dates and timings are no longer valid, and this is the official new date and time set for the derby match. While it’s never possible to accurately predict anything about sport with 100% accuracy, the odds tend to be right more often than they are not. If you are looking forward to the match, take a look at the Celtic v Rangers odds before placing any impulsive bets.
Rangers:
In what was a shockingly unexpected outcome, the defending champions lost 3 – 1 to Hibernian at their Semi-Final match on 21st November 2021. Could this have led to a loss of confidence?
That could have been the situation, had the derby been scheduled right after the unexpected loss. As it happens, the Rangers have won all their three Scottish Premiership matches since then. The champions have conceded 6 goals while scoring 12 (GD +6) in their last five Premiership matches.
Celtic:
Despite a 2 – 3 loss against Leverkusen at the UEFA Europa League Group G match on 25th November, Celtic have won all their last five Scottish Premiership matches. This may provide them with a confidence boost, especially since the win did not come easy to Leverkusen either. In their last five encounters in the Scottish Premiership, Celtic have scored 11 goals and conceded 3 (GD – +8).
As it always seems to be whenever the two Scottish behemoths collide, it would be extremely interesting to see how this match turns out. This year, however, there’s more on the line as this match could turn out to be a major decider for the league’s final outcome. Watch this space!