Celtic told they can 'widen the gap' as title rivals Rangers and Aberdeen crash to defeats
The latest from Celtic and Rangers as the Glasgow rivals prepare to meet next week.
Former Rangers striker Kris Boyd has sent a warning to his old club after they slipped further behind in the Premiership title race.
Philippe Clement’s side endured a difficult Boxing Day as they emerged empty-handed from their visit to St Mirren on a day many believed could have proved pivotal in the race to become champions. Despite looking to have battled to a share of the spoils as Danilo cancelled out a first-half goal from Oisin Smyth, Rangers fell to an agonising late defeat as Caolan Boyd-Munce netted a winning goal in the third minute of injury-time.
By contrast, Celtic enjoyed an overwhelmingly positive Boxing Day as another title rival, Aberdeen, crashed to a 4-0 home defeat against Kilmarnock. The Hoops had no such issues as they strolled to a home win against Motherwell thanks to goals from Arne Engels, Daizen Maeda, Nicolas Kuhn and Reo Hatate. The combination of results involving the top three means the reigning champions will head into the final fixtures of the calendar year with a 12-point advantage at the top of the table.
Once Sunday’s top vs bottom clash with St Johnstone is done, the focus will turn towards an eagerly anticipated visit to Rangers on Thursday where Celtic could take a major step towards the title by claiming all three points at Ibrox. Ahead of what should be a big week in the title race, former Rangers and Scotland striker Boyd believes Brendan Rodgers’ side are ‘going to widen the gap’ and go on to claim their place as champions for a fourth consecutive season.
He told Go Ballistic: “They were comfortable winners, I would expect the same again on Sunday. Brendan Rodgers will just be hoping that he can get Alistair Johnston back for the weekend that will give him some minutes ahead of the Old Firm game next week. But you kind of get the feeling that Celtic, there’s only one thing going to happen, that they’re going to widen the gap from them to Rangers in second because of the strength and depth they’ve got.
“And I think as well, Brendan Rodgers, in terms of retaining the squad at the right time, but also, the little tweaks he makes during the game as well to make sure that his team gets over the line or finds that way to break the opposition down, albeit it didn’t happen with Tannadice. But, you know, Celtic are in a very good place right now.”