Rangers v Celtic is always a game full of venom but, when it's a cup final in the midst of a title race, it's always going to have an added edge.
The Glasgow sides will meet in the Scottish League Cup final on Sunday, with kick-off at Hampden Park at 3pm. Celtic currently sit nine points ahead of Rangers in the Scottish Premiership table, with just 12 games to go.
It seems as though Celtic are in control but, ahead of Sunday's cup final showdown, Rangers man Fashion Sakala has made some fairly provocative remarks which suggest he believes his side are still in the ascendancy in Glasgow.
Speaking to the media ahead of the League Cup final, Sakala suggested that he believed Rangers were "so much better" than Celtic, while also making a bizarre statement linking Steven Gerrard's departure as Rangers manager with Celtic's return to the top.
Rangers v Celtic: Fashion Sakala pokes the bear with Gerrard comments
Fashion Sakala has stirred the pot ahead of Rangers v Celtic on Sunday afternoon, by playing up to the venom of the famous rivalry. Sakala said that Rangers would "want to hurt" Celtic any time they played them, before making some claims the Scottish Premiership table may disagree with:
When you play against Celtic, it's a different game. You just want to hurt them!
I don’t know what’s the right word to use. We just want to see our fans happier than their fans. We just want to hurt them, to make them angry. It’s more than a game. I don’t know what else to call it. But you’re always thinking about being better than them. That’s the attitude we are going with on Sunday.
Yes we’re better than them, so much better! But we’re nine points behind! We’ll keep fighting anyway. I think we are such a better club. A far better club. If we get that trophy on Sunday it will prove that we are a better team than them.
Rangers are desperate to reclaim the title after Celtic wrestled it from their grasp last season, but they have a tough task on their hands with only 12 games to play.
🎙️ Fashion Jr spoke to the media ahead of Sunday’s Viaplay Cup final. pic.twitter.com/iPMoOyCDww
— Rangers Football Club (@RangersFC) February 23, 2023
Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard was the first man to deliver Scottish Premiership glory to Ibrox after Rangers' financial difficulties at the beginning of the 2010s. Gerrard was in charge when the club won the 2020-21 title by a remarkable 25 points ahead of Celtic, before he departed midway through the following season for an ultimately doomed spell in charge of Aston Villa.
Rangers man Fashion Sakala thinks that Gerrard's departure was a turning point, with the instability caused by it leading to Celtic's return to the top:
A year ago we won the league unbeaten so that shows we are better than them. Obviously last season we were four points on top before Gerrard left so the change in coach contributed a lot for us to be struggling.
But if Gerrard was still here I think we’d have won the league last season. And this season you can see we struggled again. It’s the same thing that happened last season.
But the way we’re playing now, it’s exactly the same as we were playing when Gerrard was here. Yes, we’re nine points behind but we’ll keep fighting to put them under pressure and recover.
In the months since Gerrard's departure, Rangers have gone through two managers, with Giovanni van Bronckhorst struggling in charge befroe being sacked earlier this season. Englishman Michael Beale has taken over in charge.
It's hard to see the logic in Sakala's comments, with Rangers undoubtedly having fallen behind Celtic once more in recent years. There is nothing like a cup final derby to rile up a team, however, and victory at Hampden Park on Sunday could kick start the season on the blue side of Glasgow.
SEE ALSO: Martinez And Ten Hag Sum Up Why Manchester United's Barcelona Win Was Different
