{"id":5033,"date":"2025-03-14T20:12:58","date_gmt":"2025-03-14T20:12:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo76e71539\/2025\/03\/14\/cerny-must-start-from-the-right-predicted-3-4-2-1-rangers-lineup-to-face-celtic\/"},"modified":"2025-03-14T20:12:58","modified_gmt":"2025-03-14T20:12:58","slug":"cerny-must-start-from-the-right-predicted-3-4-2-1-rangers-lineup-to-face-celtic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo76e71539\/2025\/03\/14\/cerny-must-start-from-the-right-predicted-3-4-2-1-rangers-lineup-to-face-celtic\/","title":{"rendered":"Cerny Must Start From The Right | Predicted 3-4-2-1 Rangers Lineup To Face Celtic"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<p>Despite yet another defeat at Ibrox, Rangers progressed through to the quarterfinals of the Europa League thanks to a 3-1 first-leg victory against Fenerbahce and the mastery of Jack Butland in the tie-breaker. But they have little time to recover with <a href=\"https:\/\/the4thofficial.net\/category\/leagues\/scottish-league\/celtic\/\">Celtic<\/a> set to host them on Sunday lunchtime for the season\u2019s fourth Old Firm derby.<\/p>\n<p>Although the fixture holds no significance in the title race given the Hoops\u2019 16-point cushion at the top of the Premiership standings, <a href=\"https:\/\/the4thofficial.net\/category\/leagues\/scottish-league\/rangers\/\">Rangers<\/a> could still stop them from reaching 100 points having ended their unbeaten league status earlier this year. They registered a thumping 3-0 win at Ibrox but have already been defeated twice, including the League Cup final heartbreak in the shootout and a 3-0 setback at Celtic Park earlier this season.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Defence<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Jack Butland has been criticized for some erroneous outings, but his heroics in the shootout have kept their European hopes alive. The Englishman must exhibit his mastery once again in the Gers\u2019 battle for pride this weekend.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_321143\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-321143\"><img loading=\"lazy\" data-lazyloaded=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/the4thofficial.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/rangers-fc-v-celtic-fc-william-hill-premiership-6-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Rangers players Ridvan Yilmaz and Danilo celebrate their win against Celtic\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1925\" srcset=\"https:\/\/the4thofficial.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/rangers-fc-v-celtic-fc-william-hill-premiership-6-scaled.jpg 2560w, https:\/\/the4thofficial.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/rangers-fc-v-celtic-fc-william-hill-premiership-6-300x226.jpg 300w, https:\/\/the4thofficial.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/rangers-fc-v-celtic-fc-william-hill-premiership-6-1024x770.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/the4thofficial.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/rangers-fc-v-celtic-fc-william-hill-premiership-6-768x578.jpg 768w, https:\/\/the4thofficial.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/rangers-fc-v-celtic-fc-william-hill-premiership-6-1536x1155.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/the4thofficial.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/rangers-fc-v-celtic-fc-william-hill-premiership-6-2048x1540.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/the4thofficial.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/rangers-fc-v-celtic-fc-william-hill-premiership-6-750x564.jpg 750w, https:\/\/the4thofficial.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/rangers-fc-v-celtic-fc-william-hill-premiership-6-1140x857.jpg 1140w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-321143\">GLASGOW, SCOTLAND \u2013 JANUARY 02: R\u0131dvan Y\u0131lmaz and Danilo of Rangers celebrate at full time during the SPL | Premier League match between Rangers FC and Celtic FC at Ibrox Stadium on January 02, 2025 in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by Ian MacNicol\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Barry Ferguson has recently switched to a \u2018back three\u2019 but is yet to figure out the best possible combination. James Tavernier has impressed as a makeshift right centre-half, and the gaffer is expected to rely on him in the defensive third. John Souttar should also keep his place, but the 36-year-old Leon Balogun could make way for Robin Propper.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Midfield<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Ridvan Yilmaz, predominantly a left fullback, has been deployed from the right. He could get the nod over Dujon Sterling as a right wingback, however, the left flank belongs to Jefte who has been exquisite since completing a low-key summer transfer from Fluminense. Connor Barron was forced to leave the pitch on Thursday night with a fresh injury concern, and the manager, therefore, might have to make some adjustments in the middle of the park. Mohamed Diomande, who has been operating from an advanced midfield role, might slot in alongside Nicolas Raskin as a central midfielder.<\/p>\n<p>Rangers have enough names who could fit in as an attacking playmaker. But the excellence of Vaclav Cerny makes him an assured starter barring any injury concern. Tom Lawrence should get the nod down the left ahead of Ianis Hagi, Nedim Bajrami, Danilo and Ross McCausland.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Attack<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Cyriel Dessers had a quiet game against Fener, but he must retain his \u2018number 9\u2019 status ahead of Hamza Igamane. The Nigerian\u2019s poaching traits could make a difference high up the pitch.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/this11.com\"><img loading=\"lazy\" data-lazyloaded=\"1\" width=\"336\" height=\"515\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/this11.com\/play\/ab33cQbafW.png\" alt=\"football formations\"><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<h3> <a href=\"https:\/\/the4thofficial.net\/author\/4thpratyay\/\"> Pratyay Maitra\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/h3>\n<p> A sports enthusiast who reads, breathes, as well as dreams (mostly) about football and attempts to share his views with the fanatics by jotting down a few words.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Despite yet another defeat at Ibrox, Rangers progressed through to the quarterfinals of the Europa League thanks to a 3-1 first-leg victory against Fenerbahce and the mastery of Jack Butland in the tie-breaker. But they have little time to recover with Celtic set to host them on Sunday lunchtime for the season\u2019s fourth Old Firm [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12953,"featured_media":5034,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5033","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo76e71539\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5033","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo76e71539\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo76e71539\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo76e71539\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12953"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo76e71539\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5033"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo76e71539\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5033\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo76e71539\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5034"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo76e71539\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5033"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo76e71539\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5033"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo76e71539\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5033"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}