Celtic v Rangers LIVE: Result and reaction as hosts cruise to victory in first Old Firm derby of the season

An immediate opportunity for Rangers to test the Celtic defence, Vaclav Cerny standing up a free kick to the far post. A header back across is delivered with a bit too much oomph.

Off we go!

Here we go then. The teams are readying themselves in the Celtic Park tunnel, the Glasgow ground full to the brim.

Kevin Nisbet’s dramatic stoppage time winner allowed Aberdeen to keep their strong start to the season going at Ross County, Jimmy Thelin’s side four from four and top of the table. Can Celtic join them by continuing their own perfect start?

Former Rangers striker Kris Boyd believes frustrating Celtic needs to be his old club’s strategy at Parkhead.

The Light Blues are already two points behind the Premiership champions and former Gers and Scotland striker Boyd described the Hoops as “heavy favourites” for the first Old Firm game of the season, which will be played in front of Celtic fans only.

Rangers failed in five attempts last term to beat Brendan Rodgers’ side and have not won in the east end of Glasgow since October 2020, when a Connor Goldson double secured a 2-0 triumph - inside an empty stadium due to coronavirus restrictions - on their way to winning the title.

Boyd, now working as a pundit, told Sky Sports: “You look at Rangers in recent times going across the city, they’ve struggled. There’s no getting away from it, and they’re going to have to find a way to start getting results again.

“Celtic have started the season really, really well. I thought Rangers at the weekend (6-0 win over Ross County), in terms of that performance, was probably the best 90 minutes of the season. But there’s no getting away from it. Rangers’ head to head versus Celtic has not been good enough.

“They’re going to have to address that if they’re going to be successful. I think from Rangers’ point of view, they’re just going to have to go and try and frustrate Celtic to start with, and then see where that takes them. Because I think if you go and try and take Celtic on at their game, at home, it is going to be very difficult to come out on top.

“We’ve seen it before, where you’re underdogs and you go to frustrate a team, and you’re able to nick something, I think that’s probably where Rangers are at this moment in time.”

The match will kick off at 12:30pm BST today at Celtic Park. It will be shown live on Sky Sports Football, with coverage already started.

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Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers stressed he would take no heed of media narratives surrounding Rangers as he prepares for his side’s first derby clash of the season in the William Hill Premiership.

The champions go into the game two points ahead of their city rivals on the back of scoring nine goals without reply in their opening three league matches.

Rangers have been dealing with with an enforced exile from Ibrox amid building work and a Champions League exit at the first hurdle.

The financial gap between the sides is widening and Celtic’s late transfer business appears to have put them at a further advantage.

Celtic will again have a monopoly of fans on Sunday after deciding not to offer Rangers tickets because they had not met their obligations to undertake safety work by the agreed deadline.

However, Rodgers knows there is no room for complacency.

“Their story is never created by us, that will be created by you guys about what you’re maybe saying or what you think is happening,” said Rodgers.

“As professional football players and coaches, we prepare for the game and especially these games in particular.

“You know that there’s a different psyche in them but for us we’re coming into it in a really good place but we can never just assume that you don’t have to do the work.

“You have to do all the dirty side of the game, you have to be together, you’ve got to be unified and then bring your football and see how difficult you can make it for the opponent.”

Rangers midfielder Connor Barron, who starts today, is “really excited” about the prospect of his first Old Firm derby ahead of the trip to Celtic Park.

The 22-year-old has been a stand-out in Philippe Clement’s Gers side since joining the Light Blues from Aberdeen in the summer.

His biggest test so far awaits against the champions, who have started strongly this season with four straight wins and who will have all of their 60,000-capacity stadium behind them as there will be no Rangers supporters inside.

Barron told RangersTV: “I’m really excited. There is always a lot of talk around the games, but it’s also important as a player to realise what the team can do, and you can go out with the focus and drive that if you do your job, you can come away with the victory.

“That always has to be the aim at this football club, no matter what team you’re playing against, and nothing changes on Sunday.

“If we all stick to the game plan, we all know what we can do. Defensively, we need to get at them, and when we’re on the ball then we need to be composed.

“We saw last weekend when we take our chances, and that was something we talked about in the first few games of the season because we could have been winning by more. Hopefully we can bring that on Sunday and get the win.”

Rangers manager Philippe Clement believes his “young and exciting” squad can challenge Celtic’s established side on Sunday despite admitting his “massive rebuild” could not be completed in one transfer window.

Clament added to his squad with deadline-day signings Nedim Bajrami and Neraysho Kasanwirjo and claimed the narrative around his side had been overly negative.

The Belgian feels many underestimated the scale of the club’s task over the summer, with six players leaving for free at the end of their contracts following similar departures of Alfredo Morelos and Ryan Kent the previous year.

“It’s been really busy months and weeks,” he said. “I spoke about that at the end of last season, that it was the end of a cycle at the club. I don’t think everybody realised truly what I was talking about.

“The squad had a lot players over 30 who would not progress any more, you had players at the end of their contract who were going to leave.

“We have 16 players from the squad of last season who are not here anymore and there is still a possibility from players who are not training with the squad that they will still leave the club now. So that is a lot, that is for sure the end of a cycle and we also had to make changes in the staff. It’s a massive rebuild.”

Rangers defender Leon Bologun is on the bench while Robin Propper, Oscar Cortes and Ridvan Yilmaz are all unavailable.  New signing Neraysho Kasanwirjo is on the bench.