Parkhead legend reads his writing on the wall, something Celtic fans won’t appreciate.
Billy Dodds thinks Celtic’s crucial derby matchup on Saturday won’t be as easy as “some people think.”
Rival Paul Lambert, though, is unable to look past his former team winning the championship and achieving the desired outcome. There have been many swings and turns in this Premiership battle, and a few weeks ago, Rangers appeared to be in control following Philippe Clement’s strong start. However, significant errors against Dundee and Ross County have allowed Brendan Rodgers’ club to get a three-point lead, which the Rangers must now close at Parkhead on Saturday, failing which they will need to rely heavily on favors from other teams in the next two games.
The teams’ most recent meeting was exciting, with Rangers coming back from a 2-0 deficit. at Ibrox, rallying from a 2-0 deficit to win an exciting 3-3 draw. However, Dodds believes they could have a chance at Celtic Park if they adopt a different strategy from that game. Alongside Lambert, he stated in a Sky Sports feature:
“Many Rangers supporters were yelling “go after them” during the most recent Old Firm encounter, which ended in a 3-3 draw. I’m leaning toward not doing it since I didn’t think the Rangers’ back line was adaptable enough to keep up with the tempo. Then Maeda scores in the very first minute. Therefore, that’s probably not the best course of action.
“Rangers heading to Parkhead will benefit from it, possibly being a little deeper. attempting to refute them. With Sima and Matondo out of the picture, the Rangers need speed to counter, so I wouldn’t know who to put in the broad regions if they’re not ready. They must reduce the amount of space they leave behind. Rangers should be the underdogs if they try to chase them up the ladder since Celtic is stronger mentally and has all of their players back.”
Lambert responded, “I think the absence of away supporters will have an impact again.”
“There are no Rangers supporters either. They will expect you to win when you play in a setting like this, especially with the entire stadium on your shoulders. For this reason, the audience is crucial to Celtic.
“The pace at which the ball was going on Saturday (against Hearts) was good for Celtic. Every team has a moment throughout the season when they need to step it up, and Celtic is right there. Since it’s an Old Firm match, anything can happen, but right now, in my opinion, Celtic are the favorites just because it’s happening.”
