Fans can look forward to the next Glasgow derby of the season after yet another Celtic win at Ibrox look.
Since the home team were promoted to the Premiership, the sides have met seven times: five league encounters, and one in each cup. Celtic won six and drew one, scoring 18 and conceding four. The gulf in class is enormous at present and the 1-1 draw was a mere blip as Celtic continuously assert their superiority over their rivals. Bookmakers offered odds of 3/4 on a Celtic win, so you can get a 1.75 payout on every £1 you stake, which in reflection was very generous.
Over at Bet365, a well reviewed and highly respected bookmaker, the odds are very attractive and the overwhelming majority of the action is going on Celtic. The Hoops may have faltered in Europe against an inspired PSG, but domestically no one can touch Brendan Rodgers’ side.
“Celtic are the benchmark and they have the quality players who have been playing together for a number of years,” said Rangers legend John Brown. “It was similar to when I was playing in our nine-in-a-row squad because when we were churning it out we got respect and Celtic have that right now. Brendan is bringing in a player or two to keep the group on their toes and that’s what Walter Smith and Archie Knox did and Graeme Sounness did prior to that. It’s different for Pedro because he’s made a lot of changes, trying to bring in better players than they had last season and it’s taking a bit of time for everything to gel. Celtic have been able to bring in the Champions League money and then spend it, for example, on bringing Patrick Roberts back and he just adds quality to what they have already. They have great movement and when you see they have six players in the Scotland team it just shows you the strength they have.”
Brown hits the nail on the head: Celtic have a strong and settled squad that is bolstered each year, whereas their rivals are desperately playing catch-up and trying to bed in a raft of newcomers and they have not gelled into a team yet. Celtic were able to take advantage and down them at Ibrox on Saturday without too much trouble. It wasn’t quite on the level of the last time they played, back in April, when Celtic shrugged off the baying of the crowd to record a sensational 5-1 victory.
The Bhoys’ undefeated run now stretches back to May 2016 and it seems like nobody in the domestic league can stop them.
The odds available on them winning the league this season are laughable, such is their domination over the Premiership.
The only value to be had is on backing them to remain unbeaten or to win a domestic treble.
The gulf in class between Celtic and Europe’s elite was evidenced as PSG blew them away in the Champions League, but they have responded emphatically, with 4-0 victories over Ross County and then Dundee in the league cup.
“On the back of a tough game in midweek, it’s the mark of a really good team that you can press the reset button and go again,” Rodgers said. “You always wonder how a team will react, but this group are so honest and learned lessons from that [PSG] game.”
Celtic are a really good team and they have far too much for any team in Scotland.
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