Celtic go into Sunday's Premier Sports Cup quarter-final at Ibrox as the form team with a perfect domestic record, and the statistics back up their slight edge over Rangers.
Bookmakers give Celtic the narrowest of advantages for the first big Glasgow derby of the season. Martin O'Neill's team will have no away fans at Ibrox, but they arrive as the side in better form. Derek McInnes's Rangers have taken longer to find their feet, though they have won four games in a row in league and cup since exiting Europe.
Both teams warmed up for the final-eight clash with narrow 1-0 midweek wins, Celtic getting over the line at St Johnstone and Rangers leaving it late to edge out St Mirren.
Firepower the key difference
Record Sport's Scott Burns took an early look at the early-season Scottish Premiership statistics of both teams, using the Sics/Soccerment platform, which combines scouting, match analysis and data decisions within an AI native environment.
The Premiership stats show Celtic and Rangers are evenly matched across the board, but the area where the Hoops really edge it is their firepower and goal return. Celtic have scored 14 goals in the league compared to Rangers' seven.
Celtic's new-look strike force of Camilo Duran and Kasper Hogh has hit the ground running, while injuries to Youssef Chermiti and Lawrence Shankland have seriously blunted Rangers' frontline. McInnes has since brought in Kevin Kelsy and will hope the Venezuelan international hits the ground running. Ryan Naderi has also been given his opportunity, while Bojan Miovski's late winner against St Mirren could bring him back in from the cold.
Shankland had three goals in five games and an XG of 2.32, which is a massive loss. Naderi is next highest at 1.76. Celtic don't have such short-term headaches. Duran has hit six goals and pitched in with three assists in all competitions, while Hogh has three in the Premiership. Duran's XG is 2.20 opposed to Hogh's 2.91.
Shooting accuracy and defensive numbers
Prior to the midweek games, Celtic had 120 shots compared to Rangers' 111, while in terms of penalty box entries the figures were 193 for Celtic compared to 212 for the league leaders. The issue for Rangers is their accuracy. They convert only at half the rate of their rivals and barely a quarter of their shots are on target. Rangers also take more shots from outside the box, which brings down their shooting accuracy.
Djeidi Gassama and Findlay Curtis have taken a number of attempts on target but need to improve their end product. Celtic have an expected XG of 14.42 compared to Rangers' 11.60.
There isn't much to split the teams defensively. Celtic have lost one less goal than Rangers in the league. O'Neill's team face more shots, 55 compared to 48, although Rangers have allowed more entries into their box, 136 to 121. The Ibrox defence has made blocks and recovered the ball more, while Rangers have also won tackles in the box and Celtic edge it aerially.
Celtic brought in Sam Johnstone for Viljamo Sinsalo in Perth, while Ivor Pandur has taken the gloves at Rangers. The Celtic keepers have had to make more saves, although both teams have kept three clean sheets in the league.
Set-pieces and differing styles
Rangers have the edge on set-plays, generating 3.42 from set-piece XG from 36 corners. Celtic's XG on this is just 1.31 from 47 corners. Both sides, however, could massively improve their goal returns from this area.
The stats show Celtic are a team who build up while Rangers, in the early games under McInnes, have gone more direct. Celtic's XG from build-up is 3.40 as opposed to 1.31 on the blue side. O'Neill's team is also far more dangerous on the counter-attack, with an XG of 2.26 compared to 1.29.
Celtic have edged possession slightly at 58%, while Rangers weren't that far behind at 54.7%. Celtic come out on top in terms of passing, passing accuracy and progressive passes and carries, with Benjamin Nygren having the top passing stats from both sides. Rangers' play has been more back to front, playing 330 long balls with Celtic at 243, meaning the Ibrox side isn't able to maintain the same possession.
