Celtic and Rangers have one of the fiercest rivalries in world football, and naturally due to the passion projected by both fanbases, narratives will begin to creep into the equation, both true and untrue.
This season has been a season of narratives and agenda, and Brendan Rodgers has stated multiple times when speaking to the media that he has had enough of it.
Following the Scottish Cup victory in Paisley against St Mirren, the manager said "The narrative around our team is that we’re not together and we’re broken but you can’t come and win very comfortably like that if you’re not. When you’re a winning club with a winning mentality … I think they’re trying to gang up on us now! When you are successful and this club has been for a long period it doesn’t take much for people to want to bring you down."
There has been a constant negative atmosphere that has seemed to surround the reporting of the club in recent months, and it has sometimes fed into the fanbase as a result, but the only way Celtic can shut down those narratives is by proving themselves on the park.
They have done this on multiple occasions, with the most striking examples of this being victories over Rangers this season.
Rangers 0-1 Celtic - 3rd September 2023
Heading into this game, frustration was growing around the supporters, and a clear narrative was being set that Celtic were the underdogs heading into this one.
Celtic had a number of first-team players ruled out with injury, had exited the Viaplay Cup in the second round against Kilmarnock, and had dropped points for the first time this season in a goalless home draw with St Johnstone.
Everyone had Celtic set up to lose, and badly, and the Hoops rewrote the script by snatching a 1-0 victory from Ibrox, with Kyogo Furuhashi scoring an incredible goal just before half-time
Celtic 2-1 Rangers - 30th December 2023
A similar narrative had been set leading into this one after Celtic had shown a faltering run of form over the month of December.
Celtic had lost back to back Premiership games for the first time since 2013, as the lost again at Rugby Park against Kilmarnock and followed that up with a 2-0 home loss against Hearts.
Celtic had gone out with a whimper in both games and were seeing their gap at the top of the table slipping away.
Rangers had seen resurgent form under Philippe Clement as they had gone on a 16-game unbeaten run, but Celtic shut out the noise and shut down the narratives once again with a 2-1 victory thanks to goals from Paulo Bernardo and Kyogo Furuhashi.
Can Celtic Do It Again?
Going into the game on Sunday, Celtic's squad is arguably in a better place than it has been in both previous derby fixtures.
Callum McGregor is expected to return this weekend and Cameron Carter-Vickers and Reo Hatate are both back to full fitness, and yet Rangers are once again betting favourites to come out on top.
It will be a tough match, but if Celtic can lean on the quality of the likes of Kyogo Furuhashi and Callum McGregor like they did in previous fixtures, they should have enough to come out on top once again.
James McKenzie // @JamesWHMcKenzie