Celtic have the chance to strengthen their position at the summit of the Premiership this week as Brendan Rodgers’ side prepare for a crucial clash against second-placed Aberdeen on Wednesday night.
With a four-point lead and a game in hand, the champions are in imperious form, underlining their dominance with a 5-0 demolition of Ross County on Saturday.
Their ruthlessness has been on display for weeks. After netting four second-half goals at Tynecastle last week, they dismantled Ross County with five strikes in the opening 45 minutes.
Rodgers made six changes to his starting lineup, but the quality remained unrelenting. Liam Scales, Luke McCowan, Paulo Bernardo, and Adam Idah all got on the scoresheet in a performance that showcased Celtic’s enviable squad depth.
While Celtic are flourishing, their rivals Rangers are struggling for cohesion. Despite securing a 1-0 win against St Johnstone courtesy of an own goal, the mood around Ibrox remains gloomy.
Eleven points adrift of Celtic, Philippe Clement’s side are falling further behind, and former Celtic boss Martin O’Neill believes the gap will only grow as the season progresses.
On Sky Sports, Chris Sutton drove home that point during a heated exchange with Kris Boyd.
Celtic’s firepower compared to Rangers’ struggles:
Boyd expressed his frustration with Rangers’ lack of goals, lamenting the state of the club’s attack.
“I always preferred a partner, but the modern game seems to be one up top,” Boyd said.
“Strikers are paid to score goals, especially when you put on that Rangers jersey. The amount of chances that should be created for you if you are in the right areas.
“You should be hitting high numbers, and it’s not happening, for whatever reason. Rangers aren’t scoring goals. Half of the teams, prior to this weekend, in the Scottish Premiership have scored more than Rangers. It’s not right.”
Sutton, sitting beside Boyd, couldn’t resist pointing out Celtic’s superiority in the attacking department.
“But why is it? Because they aren’t creating enough opportunities,” Sutton replied.
“Why is it that you speak about the disconnect? I think that’s absolutely right. As of this moment, it’s not clicking and they aren’t combining. You watch – I am not bringing Celtic into it – but you see the way that they connect in forward areas and they are on a different level, at this moment in time.”
Celtic’s attacking brilliance:
The statistics are damning for Rangers. Celtic have scored nine goals in their last two Premiership matches, almost half of Rangers’ tally for the entire season.
Much of Celtic’s success can be attributed to their free-scoring forwards. Nicolas Kuhn, in particular, is emerging as the league’s standout player.
With 11 goal involvements in the Premiership, the German attacker has been instrumental in Celtic’s relentless march at the top, as highlighted by Transfermarkt.
As Rodgers’ side look to extend their lead on Wednesday, the contrast between the two Glasgow giants has never been more stark. For Celtic, the sky’s the limit, while for Rangers, the hard questions keep piling up.
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