Premier Sports Cup: Will Celtic and Rangers raise the bar on chaos at Hampden?

And now the Glasgow giants are back to face each other again. This could be horrific, but let’s hope there is a minimum of football being played at Hampden.

Recent Old Firm matches have delivered some successes – Rangers beat Celtic 3-2 at Celtic Park in March, and Celtic beat Rangers on penalties at Hampden in December after a 3-3 draw.

That 0-0 scoreline at Ibrox was an ordeal. The only thing that’s memorable about him is how completely forgettable he is. Rangers ran like rabid dogs in a steakhouse and got the equalizer having just conceded six goals to Brugge.

Celtic passed back, hesitant and unthreatening having just been knocked out of the Champions League by Kairat Almaty. It was the third time in four matches that they failed to score.

The game produced a total xG of 0.32. We can’t be sure – statistics vary – but there is every possibility that this is the lowest xG ever recorded for a game in Britain since records began.

It certainly looked like one of the most boring encounters in the modern history of the match.

This game still arouses curiosity. Celtic dominated Rangers in the league table last season, beating them by 17 points, scoring over the course of the Premier League season by 112 goals to 80, outperforming them in defense by conceding 26 goals to 41, with a goal difference of plus 86 for Celtic and plus 39 for Rangers.

However, in Old Firm games, none of this dominance has been reflected. In the four league matches, there was a 1-1 draw, a 3-2 Rangers win at Celtic Park, a 3-0 Rangers win at Ibrox, and a 3-0 Celtic win at Celtic Park.

The League Cup final ended 3-3 after extra time, and Celtic won on penalties. So, including 0-0 earlier this season, in the last six meetings – two wins for Rangers, two wins for Celtic (including penalties) and two draws. In terms of goals scored, Rangers won the six matches with a score of 10-9.

The concept of going out the window in derby matches is a bit of a cliché, but sometimes the cliché can be true. Nothing else explains why Celtic, who were so much better than Rangers last season, found them so difficult to beat.

A lot has changed at these clubs in recent weeks, but some things never change. The passion, the madness, the ridiculous high of winning this game and the ridiculous low of losing.

Both clubs have set an impressively high bar for chaos this season. Don’t be surprised if that bar rises with so much at stake at Hampden.