***Pre Match Analysis***

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Celtic vs Rangers at Celtic Park on Sunday February 15, 2009. Kick-Off 12:30 PM

Celtic top the Scottish Premier League with 55 points from 24 games and we trail 2 points behind with 53 points from the same number of games. Rangers have a superier goal difference of +35 to Celtic's +27.

A very important game, but not yet a league decider in my opinion. Both teams will drop more points after Sunday against smaller teams. Whoever wins will get a great boost from the resulting three points and if Celtic win it will make life difficult for Rangers as Celtic would then have a 5 point lead. There is still another OF game to be played at Ibrox so the league would by no means be over and Celtic have dropped quite a few points recently.

The big question for all Rangers fans is just how Walter will approach this game and the personnel he will use. Will he play with McCulloch or Edu as a defensive midfielder and just one striker up front? Will he play a normal attacking formation with two strikers up front? Again who will play and who will sit? Walter has an abundance of choices. The friendly game vs AC Milan gave a run out to many players and most did very well.

Recent results have shown that this Celtic team are not too good. Queens Park, although down by 2 goals at half time, rallied in the second half to score the only goal in that half and they are an amateur team. We can beat Celtic if we attack them. That is what we should do. If we show them far too much respect like we did against Aberdeen, we will not win. If we play McCulloch as a sweeper in front of the back four and Miller as a lone striker up front, we are asking for trouble. Miller is way off form and McCulloch will give away numerous free kicks all around the penalty box. Nakamura and Celtic will have a field day.

In my opinion we should show them absolutely no respect and go all out for a win. We have the players. I personally would play our normal team with Lafferty and Boyd up front and Fleck at left midfield.

The team would then be McGregor, Broadfoot, Bougherra, Weir, Papac, Davis, Ferguson, Mendes, Fleck, Lafferty and Boyd.

If Walter wants to play with one up front I would not play McCulloch. I would play Edu at defensive midfield, drop Ferguson, move Davis into the centre, play Beasley or Aaron on the right, drop Boyd and play Lafferty on his own up front. The team would then be McGregor, Broadfoot, Bougherra, Weir, Papac, Edu, Aaron/Beasley, Davis, Mendes, Fleck, Lafferty. This would be a more fluid, faster and creative team and there would be no fear of McCulloch giving away numerous free kicks around the box.

I think Walter will choose to play McCulloch as sweeper. Somehow I feel he may play Lafferty up front on his own as Miller has had hamstring problems and has been way off form. If he does play Miller and McCulloch I cannot see us winning as we do not carry enough of a goal threat and McCulloch will give away too many free kicks around the penalty box and Celtic will take advantage.

Will Borac play for Celtic? I am not convinced he will. This could give us a boost. Perhaps the unrest in the Celtic dressing room will affect this game. It should not, but you just never know.

In conclusion, like all Old Firm games, this could go either way. As stated above, a lot depends on Walter's thinking, the formation he chooses and the personnel he employs.

My guess is he will use McCulloch and Miller and in that case I believe a draw is the best we can hope for. I sincerely hope I am wrong.

Prediction: Celtic 0 - 0 Rangers.