Rangers FC take on Celtic in the fifth and final Old Firm Derby of the season and Van Bronckhorst will be without some key players for Sunday’s mega encounter.
The manager will want to rest some players after Thursday’s Europa League loss but he might not have the luxury to enforce a heavy rotation. They play the second leg next week so ideally, GvB will want his players fresh for when Leipzig come to town
On Sunday, the Rangers FC boss is set to miss some very important players and all these absentees might actually help Celtic pick up a win at Ibrox. He shouldn’t have a problem in naming a strong starting line-up but with so many injured players he will have very little quality on the bench.
Here’s the injury list for the Gers:
Ianis Hagi: He is out for the rest of the season with a knee injury.
Filip Helander: The defender, like Hagi, is also out for the remainder of the season.
Alfredo Morelos: Another Rangers player who is out until the summer with a thigh injury.
Aaron Ramsey: The Welsh international is very close to a return but Sunday’s Old Firm Derby will come too early for him.
Kemar Roofe: The backup striker picked up a knock in the previous Old Firm Derby and he is expected to return to action next week.
Leon Balogun: The defender is going to miss out on Sunday through suspension.
Will Rangers suffer a defeat due to all these absentees?
Giovanni van Bronckhorst would have loved to play a second fiddle side on Sunday but he can’t afford to take such a risk because a win for Celtic would more or less help them secure their Scottish Premiership title.
The Rangers FC have won two out of the five derbies this season while Celtic have won the other two so a win on Sunday will give the Ibrox outfit some bragging rights for the summer.
Based purely on domestic form, Celtic are the favourites to win on Sunday but Rangers have slain big European beasts this season so a win is certainly not out of reach for GvB’s team.
