Celtic vs Rangers Prediction and Betting Tips | January 3rd 2026

Celtic will invite arch-rivals Rangers to Celtic Park in their first Scottish Premiership match of the year on Saturday. The hosts are second in the standings and have a three-point lead over the third-placed Gers.

The Bhoys met Motherwell in their previous league outing on Tuesday and suffered a 2-0 away loss, ending their winning streak after two games. They failed to score for the first time in five games and will look to return to goalscoring ways.

The visitors defeated St. Mirren 2-1 in their last game of 2025 on Tuesday. Thelo Aasgaard broke the deadlock in the 39th minute, and Emmanuel Fernandez doubled their lead in the 52nd minute.

Celtic vs Rangers Head-to-Head and Key Numbers

• The two Glasgow-based teams have a long-standing rivalry and contest the Old Firm derby. They have crossed paths 448 times in all competitions. They are evenly matched in these meetings, with 171 wins each, and 106 games have ended in draws.
• They met in the league earlier this season in August, which ended in a scoreless draw.
• They last met in the Scottish League Cup semifinals in November, and the hosts secured a 3-1 win.
• Rangers have won four of their last five league games, with the only defeat in that period coming away from home.
• Celtic have conceded two goals each in four of their last five league outings.
• Five of the last seven meetings between them have produced over 2.5 goals.
• The hosts have the second-best attacking record in the league this season, scoring 33 goals. The Gers, meanwhile, have the joint-best defensive record, conceding 16 goals.

Celtic vs Rangers Prediction

The defending champions have lost five of their last seven games in all competitions, with three of these defeats coming on their travels. Notably, they have kept six clean sheets in their nine Premiership home games this season.

They have a lengthy absentee list as, Alistair Johnston, Callum Osmand, Cameron Carter-Vickers, and Jota are injured. Marcelo Saracchi and Kelechi Iheanacho are major doubts, while Ange Balikwisha and Sebastian Tounekti are in the Africa Cup of Nations.

The Gers have won three of their last four games, with all the wins coming at home. They have scored nine goals in their last five away games and will look to build on that form.

Derek Cornelius, Oliver Antman, and Nedim Bajrami are injured, while Bojan Miovski faces a late fitness test. Nasser Djiga is at the AFCON.

The visitors are unbeaten in their last three regular-season Premiership meetings against the Bhoys, recording two wins. With that in mind and considering the hosts' absentee list, we back the Gers to eke out a narrow win.

Prediction: Celtic 1-2 Rangers

Celtic vs Rangers Betting Tips

Tip 1: Result - Rangers to win

Tip 2: Goals - Over/Under 2.5 Goals - Over 2.5 goals

Tip 3: Both teams to score - Yes

Tip 4: At least one goal to be scored in the second half - Yes

Edited by Shubham Dupare