Celtic vs Rangers Old Firm starting XI's confirmed as Clement makes huge Balogun call and Rodgers drops winger

Rangers manager Philippe Clement and Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers have named their respective starting XI’s and substitutes for this afternoon’s enormous title race showdown in Glasgow’s east end.

Clement has made TWO changes to his line-up from the side that eventually wore down Kilmarnock 4-1 at Ibrox last Sunday. Ben Davies slots in at centre-back alongside John Souttar, with Leon Balogun failing to prove his fitness in time ahead of kick-off. Tom Lawrence also comes into the XI in favour of Todd Cantwell following a hugely impressive substitute appearance last weekend.

Meanwhile, Rodgers has made only ONE change to his line-up from the side that thrashed third-placed Hearts 3-0 at Celtic Park last Saturday. Fit-again winger Daizen Maeda replaces Nicolas Kuhn on the left flank, with Kuhn dropping to the bench in place of Yang Hyun-jun who drops out of the matchday squad. Centre half Stephen Welsh is also included among the substitutes.

What has Philippe Clement said?

“The more they boo, the stronger my team will be. I think football is like the gladiators of the modern age. In the old times you have the gladiators in a stadium full of people shouting and booing with their tongue up or tongue down.

“I think we are now in that situation. The good thing is, people don’t kill us. We’re not dead after - maybe verbally but not in real life. That’s how society works now and the players need to be ready for that. Things like that are exciting because the more passion people have for things then the more support you have also. They need to grab this moment and need to be really good gladiators in the Colosseum.”

What has Brendan Rodgers said?

“The whole emotion, the whole feeling around this game is absolutely amazing. You mention my past record in these games. I have never referred to these other than being intense, competitive so we never talk about the game as that, but we talk about the whole occasion.

“The occasion is one of the most iconic games in world football and I love it. It's one of the big reasons I'm here and the great pride and privilege of managing Celtic in a Rangers game."

The time for talking is over. Here's your confirmed starting line ups ahead of this afternoon’s massive title race showdown at Celtic Park...

Celtic starting XI (4-3-3):

Joe Hart, Alistair Johnston, Cameron Carter-Vickers, Liam Scales, Greg Taylor; Callum McGregor (C), Matt O’Riley, Reo Hatate; James Forrest, Daizen Maeda, Kyogo Furuhashi.

SUBS: Scott Bain (GK), Luis Palma, Adam Idah, Nicolas Kuhn, Maik Nawrocki, Tomoki Iwata, Paulo Bernardo, Anthony Ralston, Stephen Welsh.

Rangers starting XI (4-2-3-1):

Jack Butland, James Tavernier (C), John Souttar, Ben Davies, Borna Barisic; John Lundstram, Mohamed Diomande; Tom Lawrence, Dujon Sterling, Fabio Silva; Cyriel Dessers.

SUBS: Robby McCrorie (GK), Ridvan Yilmaz, Todd Cantwell, Kieran Dowell, Scott Wright, Kemar Roofe, Leon King, Nicolas Raskin, Ross McCausland.