Rangers icon Kris Boyd has made an emphatic prediction ahead of Sunday’s blockbuster Old Firm clash against Celtic.
Rangers battle Celtic in title race defining Old Firm
The build-up to Sunday’s Old Firm derby at Celtic Park has been dominated by one question — who needs it more? The answer, according to one of Scottish football’s most outspoken voices, is both of them.
Hearts host Aberdeen at Tynecastle on Saturday, sitting four points clear at the top of the Scottish Premiership with the split looming.
Virtually everyone in the game expects Derek McInnes’s side to pick up three points. If they do, they head into the following week knowing that the chasing pack have to keep winning just to stay in touch.
The pressure on both Rangers and Celtic on Sunday, then, is enormous.
It is the kind of pressure that defines title races. The kind that separates the clubs that want it from the clubs that genuinely have the nerve to go and get it.
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Gers boss Danny Rohl admitted in the build up to Sunday’s clash that he was ‘surprised‘ Celtic didn’t go for it more against Stuttgart in the second leg of their Europa League play-off tie after going 1-0 up, and with the Hoops now out of Europe, their hopes of a good season rest on pipping Hearts and their bitter rivals to the title.
Rohl’s Rangers are second in the table, four points adrift of Hearts and just a point ahead of Celtic.
A win at Celtic Park closes the gap at the top. A defeat, on the other hand, could effectively end their season before March has even properly begun.
Kris Boyd makes Rangers v Celtic prediction in stern Old Firm warning
Boyd has laid out the gravity of this game in the starkest possible terms, and he is not mincing his words.
“Whoever loses it, for me, is out of it, especially Celtic,” Boyd told Sky Sports.
The former Rangers striker believes the consequence of defeat would be even more severe for the Hoops than for their city rivals. Celtic do have a game in hand sitting in the bank, but Boyd is not convinced that offers any genuine comfort given the size of the gap they would be looking at.
“I can’t see any way back for Celtic if Rangers are to get the victory,” he continued.
“Yes, they’ll have that game in hand on a Wednesday night, but looking at it right now, Celtic or Rangers have to win the game to keep in contact with, or stay close to Hearts, because I do think they’ll get the three points against Aberdeen on Saturday.”
Boyd has no concerns about Rohl getting his players ready for the occasion.
The atmosphere generated by the Rangers support this season has been something to behold, and the former striker believes Sunday will be no different.
“There’s going to be huge pressure on it. Rangers are at home. I don’t think Danny Rohl has any problem in getting his team up for an Old Firm game anyway, but at home, I don’t think there’ll be any problem,” he said.
“The fans will be right behind the team, like we saw against Hearts. It’s probably as vocal as we’ve heard a Rangers fanbase for a number of years at Ibrox.
“It’s over to the players to go and put on a performance that leads Rangers to getting three points, but I’ll say it again, whoever loses it is out of it.”
Boyd knows it ultimately comes down to what happens on the pitch. Simple as that.
Sunday is a cup final in all but name. Title races in Scotland have a habit of being decided by moments just like this one, and Hearts will be watching with the popcorn.
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