Rangers vs Celtic: Old Firm key battles analysed ahead of Celtic Park clash

Rangers vs Celtic: Old Firm key battles analysed ahead of Celtic Park clash

One point separates Rangers and Celtic in the Scottish Premiership, so where could Saturday's Old Firm clash be won or lost?

Michael Beale's side host their rivals knowing defeat would be a dent to their title hopes, even at this early stage of the season.Brendan Rodgers suffered just one defeat to Rangers in the Scottish Premiership during his last spell in charge, but it has been a disappointing few weeks for Celtic with an early Viaplay Cup exit and a goalless draw against St Johnstone.

WhoScored.com picked out four potential key head-to-heads that could well determine who has bragging rights this weekend.When Allan McGregor left Rangers in the summer, there was no doubt that filling his gloves would prove a tricky task for the next Gers goalkeeper. However, you could argue that Jack Butland has perhaps been the most impressive of Michael Beale's summer signings so far.Kilmarnock's winning goal on the opening day is the only league goal that the former England goalkeeper has conceded so far. The keeper - and defence in front of him - duly responded with clean sheets against Livingston at Ibrox and Ross County in Dingwall.

However, you'd suspect that the former Birmingham, Stoke and Crystal Palace stopper won't get quiet an afternoon on Sunday.

Only St Johnstone's Dimitar Mitov (7.78) and Will Dennis of Kilmarnock (7.30) are higher rated than the 30-year-old in the Scottish Premiership so far this season, arguably only due to both of those two goalkeepers being called into action more oftenCeltic fans are quick to criticise Joe Hart, but there was no goalkeeper that kept more Scottish Premiership clean sheets than the 36-year-old last season (16) as he beat the likes of Aberdeen's Kelle Roos (13) and David Marshall of Hibernian (11).

While there may be a gradual decline in his ability, the English goalie arrived in Glasgow with a huge reputation. His experience of playing in Birmingham, Manchester, London and Turin derbies along with international showdowns is truly invaluable.

The draw with St Johnstone was a disaster as far as the Hoops are concerned, but the goalkeeper bailed them out with two big saves in the final 20 minutes of that match. He'll need to perform similar heroics here if Celtic are to leave Govan with a point or all three.For all the question marks surrounding James Tavernier's defensive capabilities, you cannot ignore his outrageous offensive output.

The right-back was the Gers' top goalscorer with 16 league goals last season, more than recently departed duo Antonio Colak (14) and Fashion Sakala (12).

Last weekend, the skipper stepped up with a superb first league goal of the season and has been instrumental in keeping back-to-back clean sheets after the Kilmarnock catastrophe.

Yet to claim an assist in the current league campaign, his nine last season was better than the likes of Ryan Kent (8), Fashion Sakala (8) and Malik Tillman (4) who you'd all expect to be involved.It's no surprise that the Hoops' first clean sheet of the season arrived upon Alistair Johnston's return. As well as helping out defensively, the right-back will feel as though he can contribute offensively.

Celtic supporters have been able to move on from Josip Juranovic with relative ease since the 24-year-old swapped Montreal for Glasgow in January.

After a series of solid performances for Canada in Qatar at the World Cup, he made his Celtic debut in the crazy 2-2 draw at Ibrox.

He created the most chances for his team-mates (3) in the St Johnstone match, completed 100 per cent of his through balls (4/4) and completed a successful dribble along with registering an 86 per cent pass accuracy (44/51).

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