Celtic v Rangers: Carter-Vickers misses derby but Goldson could play

Celtic defender Cameron Carter-Vickers will miss Saturday’s derby meeting with Rangers but Connor Goldson could feature for the visitors.

Centre-back Goldson was substituted near the end of Rangers’ victory against Motherwell on Sunday but trained on Friday.

“He will not be available for the next two games,” Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers said of Carter-Vickers.

“It’s not longer term, but you probably won’t see him until after the winter break.”

Stephen Welsh replaced Carter-Vickers at Dens Park and John Souttar came on for Goldson at Fir Park.

“Stephen played against Feyenoord and played very, very well,” Rodgers said. “He maybe hasn’t played as much as he would have liked but only because of the form of Cam and Carl Starfelt when he was here.

“That was the challenge for him but he has always been there as a loyal support to play and I know that I can trust him when I put him in.

“So if he is the guy that gets the chance to play then I have every faith that he can perform.”

Clement ‘curious’ before derby debut

Saturday will be Rangers manager Philippe Clement’s first experience of the Old Firm, having replaced Michael Beale in October.

The Belgian is unbeaten in his 16 games in charge and his side have two games in hand as they trail leaders Celtic by five points.

“I’m curious to be honest because everybody’s been talking about that already a long time,” said the Belgian. “A lot of people have been saying it is a game that’s nowhere else in the world.

“It’s about three points and on Tuesday again [against Kilmarnock] about three points. I know that’s the way to win things long term.”

There will be only Celtic fans in attendance, after only Rangers supporters took in the season’s first meeting at Ibrox in September, which Celtic won 1-0.

“It is a pity for football but it’s decisions made above my head also with knowing much more things than I know,” said Clement.

“I try to control the controllable, the things that I can do, the things we need to do as a team, with my staff, with players and the rest is not important. We are not focused on that, we are focused on the football that comes.

“At the end it’s always decided on the pitch between those four white lines and 11 against 11 – I hope.”

Team news

Winger Liel Abada and midfielder Reo Hatate could return to the Celtic squad following long absences.

Hatate has been out for two months with a hamstring problem. Abada last featured in the 1-0 win over Rangers at Ibrox on 3 September before suffering a thigh injury while training with Israel.

Rangers forwards Danilo and Kemar Roofe are definitely out while midfielders Jose Cifuentes, Ryan Jack, Tom Lawrence, John Lundstram and Nico Raskin and defenders Borna Barisic and Ben Davies have missed recent games.

And Clement said: “I will make my decisions tomorrow. I cannot answer really today because some trained but it’s not sure yet if they will have a reaction or not. It’s better to make the assessments tomorrow and then it’s clear.”

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What they said

Celtic captain Callum McGregor: “Players can’t wait when these games come around. There’s always excitement surrounding the game – inside the building, outside the building. It’s just our job to stay calm and understand what we need to do, what we need to bring to the game to make a success.”

Rangers forward Cyriel Dessers: “This game doesn’t need a lot of explanation. The team’s improving, I’m improving and we’re in a good place right now. To score [in an Old Firm game] as a striker, that’s something you dream of as a kid and I hope tomorrow will be my first in an Old Firm game.”

Match stats

• Celtic have only lost one of their last eight league meetings with Rangers (W5 D2), a 0-3 defeat in May 2023.
• In all competitions, Rangers have won just two of their last 17 away derbies (D4 L11), winning back-to-back visits in December 2019/October 2020 under Steven Gerrard.
• This will be the 10th time that Celtic have faced Rangers in their final league match of a calendar year (W3 D3 L3 in the first nine). They have lost the last two such occasions: 1-2 in 2019 and 0-1 in 2018.
• Since Philippe Clement’s first league game, Rangers have won more points (28) and conceded fewer goals (3) than any other side in the Scottish Premiership, winning nine of their 10 games.
• Rangers have won their final league match in each of the last five calendar years since a 0-0 draw at Celtc in 2017. Two of those wins have been against Celtic (2018, 2019).
• Brendan Rodgers has won 11 and lost one of his 14 Old Firm derbies; his win rate of 79% is the best of any manager in this fixture’s history for either club in major competitions.
• None of Rangers last seven managers have won their first derby (D3 L4) since Ally McCoist in September 2011. The last Rangers manager to win his first away game with the club at Celtic was Walter Smith in August 1991 (2-0).
• Celtic’s Kyogo Furuhashi has scored four goals in his last three league starts against Rangers, including a brace in April.