Celtic v Rangers live: Scottish League Cup semi-final latest team news, line-ups and more from Old Firm at Hampden – UK Times

The report from O’Neil’s first game back in the Celtic hotseat:

The influential Desmond sat in the directors’ box and watched fellow Irishman Johnny Kenny shoot Celtic into the lead after half an hour and then head in a second 10 minutes later before goals from midfielder Benjamin Nygren and wide-man Sebastian Tounekti in the second half increased the fun factor.

On the loudest nights at Celtic Park, the sound of “You’ll Never Walk Alone” is as stirring and defiant as its cousins at Anfield and the Westfalenstadion.

But for Brendan Rodgers, the noise and fallout following his shock resignation from the Scottish champions will leave the 52-year-old walking a lonely path as he packs his bags and departs Lennoxtown for the second time. A stunning, explosive statement from the Celtic majority shareholder, Dermot Desmond, accused Rodgers of acting in a “divisive, misleading, and self-serving” manner that “contributed to a toxic atmosphere” around the club, torching all ties to a manager who had won 11 trophies across his two spells in Glasgow.

The Scottish League Cup semi-final will kick-off at 2pm GMT on Sunday 2 November at Hampden Park.

Premier Sports has the rights to show the Scottish League Cup, which can be accessed via Sky, Virgin or Amazon Prime platforms. Subscribers can also watch Premier Sports online. Details are here.

Rangers XI: Butland; Djiga, Souttar, Cornelius; Tavernier, Diomande, Raskin, Meghoma; Danilo, Aasgaard; Chermiti

Celtic XI: Schmeichel; Ralston, Trusty, Scales, Tierney; McGregor, Nygren, Hatate; Forrest, Maeda, Tounekti

Connor Barron is suspended while Rabbi Matondo and Dujon Sterling remain unavailable due to injuries. Danilo is expected to be back after he was withdrawn at half-time against Hibs and Thelo Aasgaard could return to the line-up.

Daizen Maeda and Kieran Tierney are set to be available after recovering from knocks, but Cameron Carter-Vickers is now unavailable due to injury and Alistair Johnson and Kelechi Iheanacho have joined Jota on the sidelines as well.

Celtic and Rangers clash in the League Cup semi-final at Hampden in what has been an extraordinary season for the Old Firm clubs.

The first meeting between Rangers and Celtic was a dismal 0-0 draw at Ibrox at the end of August, but there has been plenty of change on both sides of Glasgow in the two months since then.

Hello and welcome to The Independent’s live coverage of today’s match between Celtic and Rangers in the Scottish League Cup.

The Old Firm sides meet for a place in the first final of the season with both sides already having seen plenty of chaos so far this term.

The match sees Martin O’Neil thrown into an Old Firm derby on his second match after his return, with Danny Rohl hoping to score a huge win in just his fourth match in charge.

We’ll have all the latest updates right here.