Rangers vs Celtic: Old Firm key battles analysed ahead of Celtic Park clash
Which players will be key in Sunday's Old Firm at Ibrox?; Rangers host Celtic in the first Scottish Premiership meeting of the season; watch it live on Sky Sports Football from 11am on Sunday, kick-off at 12pm
Monday 18 September 2023 09:10, UK
One point separates Rangers and Celtic in the Scottish Premiership, so where could Saturday's Old Firm clash be won or lost?
Michael Beale's side host their rivals knowing defeat would be a dent to their title hopes, even at this early stage of the season.
The fans will be demanding a performance after their midweek Champions League play-off disappointment away to PSV Eindhoven.
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Brendan Rodgers suffered just one defeat to Rangers in the Scottish Premiership during his last spell in charge, but it has been a disappointing few weeks for Celtic with an early Viaplay Cup exit and a goalless draw against St Johnstone.
WhoScored.com picked out four potential key head-to-heads that could well determine who has bragging rights this weekend.
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Jack Butland vs Joe Hart
When Allan McGregor left Rangers in the summer, there was no doubt that filling his gloves would prove a tricky task for the next Gers goalkeeper. However, you could argue that Jack Butland has perhaps been the most impressive of Michael Beale's summer signings so far.
Kilmarnock's winning goal on the opening day is the only league goal that the former England goalkeeper has conceded so far. The keeper - and defence in front of him - duly responded with clean sheets against Livingston at Ibrox and Ross County in Dingwall.
However, you'd suspect that the former Birmingham, Stoke and Crystal Palace stopper won't get quiet an afternoon on Sunday.
Only St Johnstone's Dimitar Mitov (7.78) and Will Dennis of Kilmarnock (7.30) are higher rated than the 30-year-old in the Scottish Premiership so far this season, arguably only due to both of those two goalkeepers being called into action more often.
Celtic fans are quick to criticise Joe Hart, but there was no goalkeeper that kept more Scottish Premiership clean sheets than the 36-year-old last season (16) as he beat the likes of Aberdeen's Kelle Roos (13) and David Marshall of Hibernian (11).
While there may be a gradual decline in his ability, the English goalie arrived in Glasgow with a huge reputation. His experience of playing in Birmingham, Manchester, London and Turin derbies along with international showdowns is truly invaluable.
The draw with St Johnstone was a disaster as far as the Hoops are concerned, but the goalkeeper bailed them out with two big saves in the final 20 minutes of that match. He'll need to perform similar heroics here if Celtic are to leave Govan with a point or all three.
James Tavernier vs Alistair Johnston
For all the question marks surrounding James Tavernier's defensive capabilities, you cannot ignore his outrageous offensive output.
The right-back was the Gers' top goalscorer with 16 league goals last season, more than recently departed duo Antonio Colak (14) and Fashion Sakala (12).
Last weekend, the skipper stepped up with a superb first league goal of the season and has been instrumental in keeping back-to-back clean sheets after the Kilmarnock catastrophe.
Yet to claim an assist in the current league campaign, his nine last season was better than the likes of Ryan Kent (8), Fashion Sakala (8) and Malik Tillman (4) who you'd all expect to be involved.
It's no surprise that the Hoops' first clean sheet of the season arrived upon Alistair Johnston's return. As well as helping out defensively, the right-back will feel as though he can contribute offensively.
Celtic supporters have been able to move on from Josip Juranovic with relative ease since the 24-year-old swapped Montreal for Glasgow in January.
After a series of solid performances for Canada in Qatar at the World Cup, he made his Celtic debut in the crazy 2-2 draw at Ibrox.
He created the most chances for his team-mates (3) in the St Johnstone match, completed 100 per cent of his through balls (4/4) and completed a successful dribble along with registering an 86 per cent pass accuracy (44/51).
Todd Cantwell vs Matt O'Riley
Since arriving north of the border from Norwich City, Todd Cantwell has grasped the opportunity of playing for Rangers with both hands. The opening goal in the final Old Firm of last season capped off a pretty impressive debut campaign at Ibrox.
Only James Tavernier had a higher rating for Rangers (7.64) than the attacking midfielder (7.54) in the Scottish Premiership last season. Ten goal contributions (six goals and four assists) in 15 appearances, his January move appeared justified.
The 25-year-old is yet to hit those heights in the current campaign. However, after his surprise omission from the Rangers' starting XI at Rugby Park, he's been reinstated as one of the first names on the team sheet and would love to chip in at the weekend with a goal or an assist.
Matt O'Riley was often sat on the sidelines last season, watching Reo Hatate and Aaron Mooy accompany club captain Callum McGregor more often than not. With the Aussie having retired and Hatate out of favour, the former MK Dons midfielder is taking advantage.
With three goal contributions in as many matches to kick-start the campaign, the 22-year-old English-born Dane is hoping to cement a spot in that Celtic starting XI. No Scottish Premiership player is averaging more shots per game (4) than the former Fulham academy product.
Having scored in both of the Celts' opening two league matches, he also turned provider for fellow midfielder David Turnbull to score his second goal in their season opener against Ross County, and he will be looking to get involved in the Hoops' offensive action once more.
Cyriel Dessers vs Kyogo Furuhashi
It's been something of a stuttering start for Cyriel Dessers in Govan, with his two goals in eight games coming against Servette in Champions League qualifying and Championship side Greenock Morton from the penalty spot.
Despite all of Alfredo Morelos' goalscoring exploits, fans of both Rangers and Celtic can't forget that it took the Colombian 15 matches to break his goalscoring drought in this particular fixture.
The 28-year-old Nigerian certainly won't want to wait that long in Scotland's showpiece showdown. The former Cremonese, Genk and Feyenoord forward could become instantly adored by the capacity crowd at Ibrox if he were to net his first league goal against the Gers' bitter rivals.
After failing to score in his debut campaign against Rangers, Kyogo Furuhashi netted five goals against the Gers last season. And, despite no goals in his last two derbies, he scored braces at both Hampden and Parkhead in the League Cup final and last league meeting at Celtic Park.
Having scored 27 Scottish Premiership goals en route to the golden boot last season, the 28-year-old netted in both of Celtic's opening two league games at home to Ross County and away against Aberdeen.
Having failed to find the net in consecutive games since, Celtic will hope their main marksman has found his shooting boots ahead of this one.
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