Scottish Premiership match previews and team news: Rangers vs Celtic live on Sky Sports
Follow the latest scores on the Sky Sports website and Sky Sports Scores app; free match highlights will be published on the Sky Sports website, app and YouTube channel later that evening; watch Rangers vs Celtic live on Sky Sports
Sunday 29 August 2021 20:31, UK
Team news and stats for round four of the Scottish Premiership.
Rangers vs Celtic - Sunday, 12pm, live on Sky Sports Football
Team news
Rangers could be much-changed for Sunday's clash with Celtic after a Covid-19 outbreak affected their plans for the midweek draw with Alashkert.
Allan McGregor, Jon McLaughlin, James Tavernier, Scott Wright, Calvin Bassey and Ryan Kent missed the Europa League play-off, although it is not clear who was positive, injured or deemed a close contact.
It remains to be seen who will return, but Kemar Roofe and John Lundstram return from suspension.
Live SPFL
Celtic hope Greg Taylor and Kyogo Furuhashi will recover from the injuries that forced them off against AZ Alkmaar.
At least one of James McCarthy and James Forrest is expected to be available after missing the trip to Holland.
Former Legia Warsaw right-back Josip Juranovic could make his debut, but Christopher Jullien (knee), Mikey Johnston (hamstring) and Karamoko Dembele (ankle) remain out.
Opta stats
- Rangers have won four of their last five league meetings with Celtic (D1), as many as they had in their previous 20 such clashes beforehand (W4 D3 L13).
- Celtic have lost four of their last five league visits to Rangers (W1), including both such trips last season. They last lost three consecutive league games at Ibrox in February 2010.
- This will be Celtic boss Ange Postecoglou's first Scottish Premiership meeting with Rangers; the last manager to lose his first league Old Firm derby match in charge of Celtic was Tony Mowbray in October 2009, with Neil Lennon, Brendan Rodgers and John Kennedy all avoiding defeat in their first such match since.
- This will be the first league Old Firm derby match in which Rangers come into it as reigning Scottish champions since April 2012, which Celtic won 3-0, and the first at Ibrox since March 2012, which Rangers won 3-2.
- Rangers have won each of their last 20 home league matches, conceding just four goals in this spell. This is the longest home league winning run by any side in Scotland's top-flight since Celtic won 26 on the spin under Martin O'Neill from November 2002 to February 2004.
- Celtic have won both of their last two league games by the same 6-0 scoreline. It's the first time the Bhoys have won back-to-back league matches by an aggregate margin of 12+ goals since October/November 2010 under Neil Lennon, when they followed up a 3-0 win at St. Johnstone with a 9-0 victory over Aberdeen.
How to follow: Rangers vs Celtic will be shown live on Sky Sports Football and Main Event from 11am; kick-off 12pm. Sky Sports customers can watch in-game clips in the live match blog on the Sky Sports website and app. Highlights will also be published on the Sky Sports digital platforms and the Sky Sports Football YouTube channel shortly after the final whistle.
Aberdeen vs Ross County - Sunday, 3pm
Team news
Aberdeen manager Stephen Glass could hand debuts to new recruits Marley Watkins and Matty Longstaff. Winger Watkins has returned to Pittodrie on a two-year deal following an injury-disrupted loan spell at the club last season, while midfielder Longstaff has joined on a season-long loan from Newcastle.
Ross County manager Malky Mackay could hand a debut to Jack Baldwin after the 28-year-old centre-back moved to the Highlands earlier this week following his departure from Bristol Rovers.
Jack Burroughs misses out after suffering an ankle injury ahead of last weekend's defeat by Rangers and the on-loan Coventry midfielder is expected to remain sidelined until late September.
Opta stats
- Aberdeen have won nine of their last 11 home league games against Ross County (L2), winning this exact fixture last season 2-0.
- Ross County won their last league game against Aberdeen 4-1 in January of last season; they last won back-to-back league meetings with the Dons in October 2013 (run of three).
- Aberdeen have scored as many goals in their opening three league games of this season as they bagged in their final 15 such matches of last term (five).
- Ross County are the only side yet to take the lead in a match in this season's Scottish Premiership. They have lost their last two league games, last suffering three such defeats in a row in December 2020 (a run of six).
- In the first three matchdays of the season, Aberdeen have made 13 combined changes to their starting XIs, at least five more than any other Scottish Premiership side. Ross County, meanwhile, have made just four changes; only Livingston (three) and Hearts (one) have named fewer.
How to follow: Follow the latest scores on the Sky Sports website and Sky Sports Scores app. Free match highlights will be published on the Sky Sports website, app and YouTube channel later that evening.
St Mirren vs St Johnstone - Sunday, 3pm
Team news
Alan Power is suspended for St Mirren's home cinch Premiership game against St Johnstone.
The midfielder was sent off in the 6-0 defeat by Celtic at Parkhead last week. The Buddies have a couple of players who will require assessing.
Callum Davidson will assess his St Johnstone squad ahead of the trip to Paisley following their Europa Conference League exertions on Thursday night.
Liam Gordon missed the 2-0 defeat by LASK at McDiarmid Park which saw the Saints exit the qualifying play-off on a 3-1 aggregate.
The double cup winners are still searching for their first win in 90 minutes this season after eight games in all competitions.
Opta stats
- St Mirren are unbeaten in four home league meetings with St Johnstone (W2 D2), winning their last such match 3-2 in December of last season.
- St Johnstone have kept a clean sheet in nine of their last 12 top-flight meetings with St Mirren (W7 D3 L2), conceding just six goals in total in this spell (0.5 per game).
- St Mirren lost their opening home league match of this season 1-2 to Hearts; they last lost both of their first two home matches of a Scottish Premiership season in 2014-15, a season in which they would go on to be relegated.
- St Johnstone are without a win in five league games (D3 L2), scoring just one goal in this run. The Saints could lose back-to-back league matches for the first time since they lost four in a row in December 2020.
- St Johnstone are the only Scottish Premiership side yet to see one of their players score for them in this season's competition, with their lone goal so far being a Stephen O'Donnell own goal against Motherwell.
How to follow: Follow the latest scores on the Sky Sports website and Sky Sports Scores app. Free match highlights will be published on the Sky Sports website, app and YouTube channel later that evening.
The 2021/22 Scottish Premiership season with Sky Sports
- Up to 48 live matches from the Scottish Premiership, including every Old Firm encounter.
- Live coverage presented by Eilidh Barbour with analysis from Kris Boyd and Andy Walker, and more.
- Round-the-clock coverage on Sky Sports News, on skysports.com and across our Sky Sports social channels.
- Dedicated Scottish Premiership highlights show every week and free-to-watch highlights of every Scottish Premiership game on our website.
- Insight and analysis from our Scottish Football Podcast.
