Rangers take on Old Firm rivals Celtic at Hampden Park this weekend.
Chris Sutton
Pundit Chris Sutton has told Sporting Life that he does think Rangers have a chance of beating Celtic in their Scottish Cup semi-final clash this weekend.
The Gers head into a Scottish Cup semi-final against Celtic for the second year in a row this weekend, with fans hoping for a repeat of last year’s win over the Bhoys.
It may have come on penalties after a 2-2 draw, but that win for Rangers gave them hope that they could challenge Celtic in the Scottish Premiership this season – and it proved to be something of a false dawn.
Rather than challenge Celtic, Rangers have endured a difficult season, in which Mark Warburton ended up resigning and being replaced by Pedro Caixinha.
Conversely, Celtic have kicked on since their Scottish Cup defeat a year ago. Ronny Deila was replaced as manager by Brendan Rodgers, and he has guided Celtic to an unbeaten domestic season so far.
With the Scottish Premiership and Scottish League Cup already sewn up, Rodgers can move one step closer to an unbeaten treble by beating Rangers, in a game which the Bhoys are firm favourites for.
Now, pundit Chris Sutton has told Sporting Life that it would be ‘daft’ to bet against Celtic, given that Rangers lie 33 points adrift of the Bhoys in the Scottish Premiership table.
However, the ex-Celtic striker did note that Rangers have been rejuvenated under new boss Caixinha, and with Celtic taking their foot off the gas since winning the title, he thinks Rangers do stand a very real chance of winning Sunday’s clash.
Rangers manager Pedro Caixinha
“If you are a betting man you would be daft to bet against Celtic,” said Sutton. “But Celtic have won the treble three times in history so that tells you that is not an easy thing to do and they notoriously have a poor record in Scottish Cup semi-finals against Rangers. You still have to back Celtic but Rangers have been rejuvenated under Pedro Caixinha. Things couldn’t get much worse under Mark Warburton but there seems to have been a response and that 3-0 win at Aberdeen the other week was absolutely enormous for them.”
“In terms of going into next season with the same squad, this current squad and team isn’t good enough to challenge Celtic for the title. But in a one-off game, they are on a high, they are playing with confidence and will feel they have a chance. Pride is a big thing in football and it was a big thing in the last game at Celtic Park for the Rangers players, in terms of desperation in not wanting to get beaten and humiliated as they had been earlier in the season.”
“And on the flip side of that I felt Celtic had taken the foot off the pedal a little bit, although as of late they have been doing okay and are still unbeaten domestically. They have coasted because they have been so far in front but after that last result, where Rangers played very well at Celtic Park, I do feel Celtic will re-focus,” he added.
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