Celtic and Rangers go to battle in the classic match-up of Scottish football on Sunday, the fourth time the two sides have met this season. The Hoops, of course, have had the upper hand so far this season, making last season’s penalties defeat to the Gers ancient history with three stomping wins.

The last time they met at Celtic Park was the most dominant of the occasions so far, with Brendan Rodgers’ side thumping the visitors 5-1 in a manner that hadn’t been seen for 15 years.

Can it be done again? There’s certainly an air of confidence amongst the Celtic support that they could see a similar margin of victory.

However, Rangers won’t be turning up just to roll over for their rivals and showed in the last match at Ibrox that they can organise themselves into a decent performance against the Hoops, albeit unable to have sustained that over 90 minutes.

Rodgers and his team won’t be complacent whatsoever and will have been preparing for this fixture with the same determination as they do every other.

This is Celtic’s how-to-guide to get one over on their city rivals in style again…

The formation: 4-2-3-1

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Brendan Rodgers has rarely changed the formation of his side since taking over last summer and we don’t foresee any major shape changes for the upcoming derby. However, we are suggesting he make a bold call, albeit a slight one.

Moussa Dembele and Leigh Griffiths have only played together from the start on a handful of occasions this season, with it generally not looking like the most stable set-up in the world.

Celtic, though, are missing some key men like Tom Rogic and James Forrest, leaving Rodgers with decisions to make in the middle of the park and out wide. Gary Mackay-Steven doesn’t appear to be a viable solution on the right-hand side so Patrick Roberts should get the nod there.

Elsewhere, Nir Bitton has improved in recent months but there are still question marks about his heart and desire on these big occasions so playing Stuart Armstrong beside Scott Brown would be a formidable duo in the heart of midfield.

That leaves Griffiths as a viable option to come on and exploit the space between Rangers’ midfield and defence in support of Dembele.

The Frenchman is the King when it comes to forward play so he should undoubtedly lead the attack, able to bring his teammates into the match with his excellent strength and technical ability.

It would be an XI we haven’t seen much of but that front four of Sinclair, Griffiths, Roberts and Dembele would surely rack up quite the scoreline on Sunday?

The danger man: Barrie McKay

Perhaps the one big threat Rangers possess is winger Barrie McKay who possess a natural flair and desire to impact football matches. The one thing Celtic cannot be on Sunday is over confident, that hubris could come back to bite them and if it does it will likely be through McKay.

The Hoops will have to show restraint in getting Kieran Tierney and Mikael Lustig forward in support of their own attack as McKay possess the pace and dribbling ability to get in behind the Celtic defence one-on-one. He was undoubtedly their best player at Ibrox on Hogmanay and was also on the scoresheet last season when the Gers defeat Celtic in the Scottish Cup semi-final.

He’s shown plenty of potential so far but a big performance at Celtic Park on Sunday would announce his arrival as one of the best players in the league. It’s up to Brendan Rodgers’ team to make sure that doesn’t  happen.

The big battle: Scott Sinclair vs. James Tavernier

The key to shutting down Celtic’s attacking prowess is cutting off Scott Sinclair from the rest of his teammates. Sinclair is the man who makes things happen in the final third, evident from his 18 goals and 7 assists so far this campaign. It’s his partnerships with the likes of Kieran Tierney and Moussa Dembele that have defined the Hoops’ season so far.

We saw last week when they played St Mirren that if a team can isolate Sinclair and Tierney on that left flank and squeeze the space that Celtic can be stifled.

That task falls to James Tavernier this Sunday, the key part of what will be a massive team effort to blunt the Celtic attack. Tavernier is perhaps best known for his attacking contribution to the Rangers team but he will be a defender first and foremost on Sunday. If he can successfully deal with Sinclair it will go a long way to securing a result for the Gers.

Sinclair though is likely to shine and getting the best of Tavernier could be the key to breaking down what will be a determined blue wall.

The key weapon: Moussa Dembele

There aren’t many words that haven’t already been said about the wonderful season Moussa Dembele is having so far at Celtic.

With 32 goals and 6 assists Dembele is absolutely destroying the opposition in Scotland this season and none more so than Rangers. With 5 of those 32 goals coming in this frantic derby over the last 3 matches, he’s made himself an absolute hero with the Celtic supporters.

Rangers, even if they won’t admit it, must fear facing the young Frenchman. He’s a big game player and the likelihood is he’s going to put them to the sword this Sunday.

He is the big Celtic weapon that could make this another massive victory for the Bhoys.