Glasgow Rangers<\/a> face off against their city rivals in the Scottish Premiership<\/a> at Parkhead this afternoon in their 36th match of the league season.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Light Blues are going to go more than five years without winning a league title after their losses to Hearts and Motherwell in the last two league matches virtually ruled them out of the race.<\/p>\n Their opponents today, though, still have a chance to beat Hearts to the trophy to retain their crown, and that may provide the Gers with more motivation to get points from this match.<\/p>\n Danny Rohl<\/a>‘s side will want to win regardless, for their own sake and because it is a derby game, but they now have the chance to ruin Celtic’s chances of winning the title by beating them.<\/p>\n The Ibrox giants will need to win a key battle against the Hoops if they want to come away with any points from Sunday’s Premiership clash.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n When the Gers chucked away a 2-0 lead to draw 2-2 with Celtic at Ibrox in the league in March, the midfield battle cost Rohl’s team because the Hoops finished the game with 55% of the possession and 71 more passes attempted.<\/p>\n Rangers allowed their rivals, and Callum McGregor in particular, to dominate the ball and dictate how the game went in the second half, which ultimately led to them dropping two points on the day.<\/p>\n Rohl cannot allow McGregor, who is one of only three players in the league to complete over 2,000 passes this season, to get on the ball and control the match in possession.<\/p>\n Most passes made in 25\/26 Premiership<\/p>\n<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n Player<\/p>\n<\/th>\n Passes made<\/p>\n<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n Liam Scales<\/p>\n<\/td>\n 2,547<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n Elliot Watt<\/p>\n<\/td>\n 2,190<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n Callum McGregor<\/p>\n<\/td>\n 2,167<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n Paul McGinn<\/p>\n<\/td>\n 1,905<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n Auston Trusty<\/p>\n<\/td>\n 1,653<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table><\/div>\n If the Gers can control the ball with their own midfield and quickly pressure and force Celtic to play around McGregor instead of through him, they could win the key battle of the game on Sunday.<\/p>\n In order to win that midfield battle at Parkhead, Rohl should unleash a Rangers star who can be their own version of McGregor in the middle of the park.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n In the summer of 2024, Rangers signed central midfielder Mohamed Diomande on a permanent deal for \u00a34.3m<\/a>, after he spent the second half of the 2023\/24 campaign on loan at Ibrox.<\/p>\n\n The key battle Rangers need to win against Celtic on Sunday<\/strong>
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\n <\/picture>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n Rangers have hit the jackpot on their own Callum McGregor<\/strong>
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