Alan Shearer is at Ibrox to drink in the first derby of 2025 – just weeks after admitting he’d love to see the duo in the EPL.
The Newcastle hero knows that Celtic and Rangers fighting it out with the big clubs in England on a weekly basis will never happen but he’s in Govan for the next big thing as he takes in the Ibrox showdown on a freezing cold day in Glasgow. The former England international will get the chance to watch ‘two giants clubs’ slug it out in front of crowd of home supporters.
The pressure is on Philippe Clement and his troops as the Belgian not only looks for a first win over Brendan Rodgers in the opposing dugout but aims to bring the points difference between the two down to 11 points and not to 17 – if the champions run out winners in the backyard of their big city rivals. The Light Blues have failed to win in their last two games with defeat at St Mirren and a draw against Motherwell last time out and go into this one missing a number of key personnel.
Undisputed No1 Jack Butland misses out with deputy Liam Kelly in from the start while Nico Raskin takes on the armband for the day with skipper James Tavernier also ruled out. A defensive crisis means Robin Propper partners Dujon Sterling at the heart of the backline with John Souttar and Leon Balogun on the injury table.
Speaking previously about Rangers and Celtic, Shearer said: “The atmosphere in those grounds is amazing. The support they have around the world is fantastic, so they are two giant clubs. Absolutely, it would be brilliant if they could be in the Premier League. But I don’t think we are ever going to see it – it’s never going to happen.”
His chance to watch the pair in action comes just months after he declared Rangers out of the title race – when the points difference between the duo was at just six points. The gap is much wider now with 14 standing between the pair ahead of kick-off.
Speaking back in October, Shearer said: “We know that most of the time in Scotland, it’s Rangers vs Celtic, and whoever wins, it’s unacceptable for the other. But for Rangers to be that far behind after eight games means I would say they are out of the title race.”