Rangers are looking to forget Wednesday's Champions League stalemate whilst Celtic are upbeat after their European victory going into today's Scottish Premiership matches.
Rangers travel to Aberdeen, who held them to a draw on their last league visit to Pittodrie, and Celtic are eager get a victory under their belts against visitors Dundee United.
The Gers go to the Granite City on the back of a frustrating 1-1 draw at Ibrox in the Champions League final qualifying round against FC Copenhagen, and manager Alex McLeish is looking for an improved show.
"It will take a much better performance from several of the players," McLeish told the club's official Web site.
"But the players themselves know that they can give more in certain positions and I'm looking for that improvement."
Rangers swatted away a recent approach for club captain Barry Ferguson from former Gers boss Graeme Souness, now managing English side Blackburn Rovers.
"We've made an enquiry for Barry in the last seven days but we were told he's not for sale," Souness told the Lancashire Evening Telegraph.
Rangers are short on cash but Rovers are likely to accept no for an answer.
The Gers brought in a handful of cut-price players during the close season, but only Georgian defender Zura Khizanishvili has so far started a game.
New signings Henning Berg, Paolo Vanoli and Nuno Capucho may be in the first 11 against Aberdeen after sitting on the bench midweek.
Meanwhile, Celtic got their Champions League campaign off to a flying start with a 4-0 win over MTK Hungaria in Budapest.
But domestically, the Bhoys are already two points behind their Old Firm rivals, having drawn a blank at Dunfermline last Saturday.
Manager Martin O'Neill is still without suspended striker Chris Sutton, but Sweden midfielder Johan Mjallby may feature against Dundee United after skipping the Hungaria and Dunfermline matches with a knee problem.
"He trained, and you know what Johans like -- he'll want to go through with it anyway," said O'Neill.
"But he said he was feeling about the same as he did on Saturday, so we thought best to leave him out."
Hearts travel to Hibernian in the Edinburgh derby, with both teams going into the clash in form.
Hibs staged a second-half comeback to beat Dundee United 2-1 away last Saturday, whilst the Jam Tarts sent Aberdeen home with a 2-0 defeat.
FRUSTRATION: Alcaraz made several unforced errors over four sets against Bosnian Damir Dzumhur, who had never made it past the third round in a major competition Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz reached the fourth round of the French Open after laboring past Damir Dzumhur 6-1, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 in the Friday night session. The second-seeded Spaniard had never before played Dzumhur, a 33-year-old Bosnian who had never been past the third round at any major tournament. “I suffered quite a lot today,” Alcaraz said. “The first two sets was under control, then he started to play more deeply and more aggressively. It was really difficult for me.” Dzumhur hurt his left knee in a fall in the second round, and had treatment on Friday on his right leg during the
‘DREAM’: The 5-0 victory was PSG’s first Champions League title, and the biggest final win by any team in the 70-year history of the top-flight European competition Paris Saint-Germain won the Champions League for the first time as Luis Enrique’s brilliant young side outclassed Inter on Saturday in the most one-sided final ever with teenager Desire Doue scoring twice in an astonishing 5-0 victory. Doue supplied the pass for Achraf Hakimi to give PSG an early lead and the 19-year-old went from provider to finisher as his deflected shot doubled the advantage in the 20th minute. Doue scored again just after the hour mark, ending any doubt about the outcome before Khvicha Kvaratskhelia ran away to get the fourth and substitute Senny Mayulu, another teenager, made it five. Inter were
The Greek basketball league finals between Panathinaikos and Olympiakos were suspended by the government on Monday following on-court scuffles involving rival security teams. The best-of-five series is at 1-1. The third game, scheduled for today, has been postponed. The owners of both clubs were summoned to meet with the country’s sports minister. They “will be asked to provide explicit guarantees that this situation will be brought to an end. If not, this year’s championship will be definitively canceled,” government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis said. “There can be no tolerance for such pathological phenomena of violence and delinquency.” In online posts, the owners of Panathinaikos and
The Edmonton Oilers on Thursday defeated the Dallas Stars 6-3 to book their place in the Stanley Cup Finals, setting up a repeat of last year’s NHL showpiece against reigning champions the Florida Panthers. The Oilers, bidding to become the first Canadian team to win the NHL’s championship series since the 1993 Montreal Canadiens, head to Florida for Game 1 of the best-of-seven series set for Wednesday. Florida, who are to play in the NHL showpiece for the third straight season, won last year’s title 4-3 to extend Canada’s decades-long Stanley Cup drought. Connor McDavid led Edmonton back to the championship series on
RSS