Celtic vs Rangers LIVE: Scottish League Cup final team news and updates as Old Firm rivals clash

Celtic lined up with the same 11 as the one that drew 0-0 against Dinamo Zagreb in the middle of the week.

4-3-3, Callum McGregor plays as a more central midfielder, with Paulo Bernardo and Reo Hatate on either side of the captain.

Up front, Kyogo Furuhashi starts centrally with Daizen Maeda on the left and Nicolas Kühn on the right.

Rangers XI: Butland, Tavernier, Balogun, Propper, Jefte, Diomande, Raskin, Hagi, Bajrami, Cerny, Igamane.

Subs: Kelly, Ridvan, Barron, Dessers, Dowell, Sterling, King, Danilo, McCausland.

Celtic XI: Schmeichel; Johnson, Carter-Vickers, Trusty, Taylor, McGregor, Bernardo, Hatate, Kuhn, Maeda, Kyogo.

Subs: Sinisalo, Scales, Palma, Valle, Idah, Yang, Engels, Forrest, Ralston.

Both of these teams were in midweek action in Europe, and Rangers’ draw may have been more appealing despite being in the lower competition.

As for Celtic, they also drew, with their score 0-0 at Dinamo Zagreb which means they are 21st in the Champions League, above Man City and level on points with Real Madrid. Another positive result in their remaining two games is still necessary to secure a place in the play-offs – they need a top 24 finish for that.

Celtic have once again been the dominant force in Scottish football of late, winning the title in 12 of the last 13 seasons. Since 2017, they’ve also won the Scottish Cup six times and the League Cup as many times, which of course means Rangers’ own trophy cabinet has had fewer additions of late.

The 2020/21 SPL title was theirs, as was the 2022 Scottish Cup and, as mentioned, last season’s League Cup.

They finished as runners-up in the ’22 Europa League, but there’s no trophy for that. They would certainly like to add more silverware today to skew the balance a bit more.

League Cup route this season for both teams:

• second round – 3-1 v Hibs
• Quarter Final 5-2 v Falkirk
• Semi-final 6-0 against Aberdeen

• second round – 2-0 v St Johnstone
• QF 3-0 v Dundee
• SF 2-1 v Motherwell

So then 2024/25: The sides met in an SPL derby back in September and it was a very routine win for Celtic that time, 3-0 with Maeda, Furuhashi and McGregor all scoring. Rangers had a few injuries, but the gap in their flanks was obvious.

It was the 442nd meeting between them, and Celtic have now won 170, Rangers 169 and 103 draws.

In this competition, the League Cup, that’s 25 wins for Celtic, 24 for Rangers and two draws from 51 meetings.

What will 52 bring?

Before we go into this season, it’s worth remembering that the two met in the Scottish Cup final at the end of last term – Celtic emerged victorious that day to complete a league and cup double.

Adam Idah scored in the last minute to settle the match 1-0, with 12 yellow cards shown – but no reds.

It was the first Old Firm meeting in a Scottish Cup final since 2002; now a few months, we have another one in another competition.

In the Scottish Premiership this season, there is little gulf between the two sides.

Celtic are top with 43 points after drawing once and winning 14 times in 15 games – that relentlessness puts them a massive 12 points ahead of Rangers, who have lost three times this season.

The Gers are also only third in the table, trailing Aberdeen by two points, despite having a game in hand over the Dons.

They have won their last three in the league, scoring ten and conceding none in the process, to mark a definite uptick in consistency of late, but Celtic can only point to their run of wins which currently stands at seven in the SPL.

In all competitions, Rangers are nine unbeaten, including a 1-1 draw with Tottenham in midweek, while Celtic are 14 unbeaten since a 7-1 defeat – their only defeat this term – at Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League.

In last year’s final, the Gers beat Aberdeen 1-0, with James Tavernier scoring before lifting the trophy himself.

Celtic’s spell ended long ago, defeated by Kilmarnock in the second round.

In the past eight seasons, the Hoops have gone out or in that round or won the entire competition.