Alan Stubbs Foresees Celtic Victory Over Rangers, Citing Superior Quality

Celtic secured a 3-0 home victory against Rangers in their sole prior encounter this season, with Daizen Maeda netting the opening goal. The team currently holds an unbeaten record across six Old Firm derbies, having won the last three. Their single loss in 13 matches against Rangers occurred in May 2023, in a fixture deemed ‘meaningless’ as the league title had already been clinched. This raises the question of whether Brendan Rodgers’ squad is poised to claim the League Cup from their rivals at Hampden this Sunday. Alan Stubbs, a former Celtic defender, expressed his conviction, stating to BBC Scotland: “There’s no bias to this, but I can only see in terms of the form that Celtic are in, a Celtic victory.” Stubbs elaborated on his view: “I think Rangers will be competitive, but Celtic’s quality will be too much for them. I think we’ve already seen it – Rangers have not really got any consistency to their performances.” He added, “They’re still finding what’s the right way, the manager’s still finding what players he wants to go to.” He concluded this point by saying, “I actually think Rangers as a club are trying to find out what’s the right direction, whereas Celtic are just steamrolling ahead and they’ve got far too much.” He further commented on the broader league context, stating, “Aberdeen have done very well this season, but in terms of the Old Firm, the gap between the two of them, I can only see one outcome really.” Stubbs concluded his prediction: “I just think Celtic will be too strong and if they score early, then it could be by a couple.”