Steven Thompson suggests current difference between Rangers and Celtic

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Glasgow Rangers stormed to a 5-1 victory at Ibrox on Sunday, while their Scottish Premiership rivals suffered a dramatic defeat.

Steven Thompson has told BBC Sport that the key difference between Rangers and Celtic currently is that Steven Gerrard’s Gers side look like scoring with every attack at the moment.

It was a fascinating day in the Scottish Premiership on Sunday. With both Old Firm sides buoyed by good results in Europe in midweek and by leaders Hearts dropping two points at home on Saturday, Brendan Rodgers and Gerrard would have been hoping to see their sides cap the week off in style in their respective fixtures.

Rangers certainly did that as they thrashed St Johnstone 5-1 at Ibrox to move up to second in the table. But that was only after Celtic were beaten 2-1 away at Kilmarnock, thanks to a last-gasp goal from former Hoops man Stuart Findlay.

Despite winning five of their previous seven games before losing on Sunday, something does not appear to be right at Celtic at the moment. And Thompson suggested that Rangers are the side building the serious momentum right now.

“They’re playing with a swagger and a confidence, and no wonder, because the quality of the football they’re producing is absolutely magnificent,” he told BBC Sport.

“And, as I mentioned, five different goalscorers. St Johnstone really didn’t offer anything to the game in terms of resistance. I thought it was a really poor performance, but Rangers cut them open. And I think the difference between watching this Rangers side and watching Celtic today is when Rangers attack you really feel that they could score with virtually every single attack.”

While Celtic’s results before Sunday were not terrible, Rodgers cannot be at all happy with how his team has started the domestic season. They have scored more than once in a single league game on just one occasion this term, and that came on the opening day.

Rangers still need to prove that they can sustain their current form over a much longer period, but they are certainly showing the kind of form that suggests that they have the potential to give Celtic a very good scare this season.