Old Firm Clash: Rangers and Celtic Face Key Tests
The Old Firm are back on centre stage this week, and the Scottish Premiership table could have a very familiar feel by Wednesday night.
Rangers, three wins on the spin and stirring after a stuttering start, welcome surprise package St Mirren to Ibrox. Celtic, flawless at home so far despite their own European scars, head up the A9 to face a resurgent St Johnstone in Perth.
All of it is framed by what comes next: the first derby of the season at Ibrox on Sunday in the quarter-finals of the Premier Sports Cup. Before that, both Glasgow giants have to prove they can handle the warm-up act.
Rangers rising, St Mirren standing in the way
Rangers sit behind third-placed St Mirren only on goal difference, an early-season quirk that underlines the Paisley club’s sharp start rather than any malaise in Govan.
Derek McInnes’ side have quietly reset after dropping points in their opening two league matches and tumbling out of Europe. A run of wins over Aberdeen, Falkirk and Motherwell has changed the mood. The football looks more assured. The noise inside Ibrox sounds different.
McInnes, though, knows the job is nowhere near done.
He talks about “small steps” and “encouragement” and he’s right – this is a team still trying to grow into itself. The pressure, he admits, only really lifts when a trophy is in your hands. Until then, every week feels like an examination.
Saturday’s win over Motherwell was a case in point. Rangers controlled the game, created enough chances to make it comfortable, but never quite put it to bed. The visitors rarely threatened. The home crowd left satisfied, not yet ecstatic.
One clear positive has been the new-look back line. James Penrice has slotted in at left-back and looked like he has been there for years. His debut against St Mirren in the Premier Sports Cup was almost too good to be true – a goal, an assist, and a statement performance in a 5-0 demolition.
Alongside him, central defenders Olwethu Makhanya and Emmanuel Fernandez have started every game since. Fernandez can wobble at times, but a settled defence has given Rangers a platform. The clean sheets and calmer late spells speak for themselves.
Up front, the timing could hardly be worse. Lawrence Shankland, just as he rediscovered his finishing touch, has been lost to injury. That thrusts Kevin Kelsy into the spotlight. The new arrival would probably have preferred a gentler introduction. He may not get that luxury now.
St Mirren arrive with belief and a manager in form. Craig McLeish has been showered with praise for shifting his team towards a more fluid, possession-based style. The Premiership manager of the month award for August underlined how quickly his ideas have landed.
“I’m not surprised it’s come together so quickly,” he said, pointing to a strong internal belief and hinting they could have been even better.
The numbers back that up. St Mirren’s unbeaten four-game league run in this fixture not so long ago gave Rangers plenty of problems. The last two meetings in the league have swung by a single goal to the Ibrox side, but those margins have been thin.
The exception was that cup tie earlier this season, when Rangers ran riot and St Mirren never laid a glove on them. The midfield was one-way traffic. That could become a theme again with Paul Nsio ruled out, unable to play against his parent club. His bite and energy will be missed in the area of the pitch where Rangers dominated so ruthlessly last month.
McLeish’s team pushed Celtic hard at the weekend, impressive between both boxes but blunt where it mattered most. If they can rediscover a cutting edge and avoid a repeat of their Ibrox collapse, they have already shown they can live with the best in the country.
Rangers, though, know a fourth straight win would not only tidy up the table. It would send them into Sunday’s derby with momentum and noise behind them.
Celtic perfect at home, but Perth offers a test
Across the city, Celtic’s domestic record remains spotless. The scars from a Champions League qualifying trauma in Austria have been covered, if not entirely healed, by relentless league form and a late-window recruitment drive.
Martin O’Neill has added depth and variety to his squad, then watched them grind out results even when the football has lacked its usual flow.
Saturday night was a classic example. Celtic fell behind, laboured for long spells, but still found a way to win. Yang Hyun-jun stole the show, all energy and direct running, finishing the decisive goal to cap his best display in green and white.
He will not be around to follow it up. Yang has joined up with South Korea for the Asian Games, leaving O’Neill with a selection puzzle and a hole on the flank.
The obvious move would be to slide Camilo Duran back out wide, but that would mean breaking up a run of form through the middle that is hard to ignore: three goals and two assists in three games as a central striker. Duran looks at home leading the line. Shifting him now would feel like fixing something that isn’t broken.
If O’Neill keeps him in the centre, on-loan Chelsea forward Shim Mheuka could be handed his first start. So far, only Mheuka and Oliver Sorensen have emerged from the bench among the six late-window signings. Sebastian Tounekti, more of a like-for-like wide option, might be the safer choice to step in for Yang if the manager wants minimal disruption.
There is more good news on the fitness front. Striker Kasper Hogh and left-back Kieran Tierney are both back in contention after short injury lay-offs, adding yet more options for a coach who suddenly has decisions everywhere he looks.
Celtic will need all of that depth at McDiarmid Park. St Johnstone, under Simo Valakari, have rediscovered a spark and are chasing a third straight home win. They want the ball. They want to play through the phases. They will not simply sit in and hope.
“They want to play football as well and they’re committed,” O’Neill said of his next opponents. He talked about their “vitality” and drew parallels with what McLeish is building at St Mirren. That is not flattery; it is a warning. This is not the St Johnstone of old, grinding their way through matches and clinging on.
Josh Fowler has found a happy hunting ground in Perth, with three of his four goals this season coming at home. On the right, local lad Taylor Steven has caught the eye with his delivery, whipping in crosses that ask questions of any defence.
At the back, Cheick Diabate and Zach Mitchell form a rugged, no-nonsense pairing. They attack everything in the air and relish the physical battle. Yet there is a flaw: St Johnstone are still waiting for their first league clean sheet. Against a Celtic side that usually creates chances, that feels like a dangerous statistic.
Valakari is under no illusions. He talks about needing to do “our football things so well” and then, crucially, about earning their luck. Against Celtic, he says, you need a little bit of fortune in key moments. He knows the margin for error is tiny.
O’Neill’s last visit to Perth as a manager came 25 years ago, a different era and a different St Johnstone. The most recent upset, though, is still fresh: a home win over Celtic in April 2025, one of the few bright sparks in a season that ended in relegation for the Perth club.
They are back, trying to build something new. Celtic are trying to stay perfect at home and sharpen their edge away. Rangers are hunting down a fourth straight win. St Mirren and St Johnstone want to prove they belong in this conversation.
By Sunday afternoon, when the Old Firm collide in the cup, we will know which of them used this week to tighten their grip on the season – and who let it slip.
