Celtic were given an early present by St Mirren on Christmas Eve when the Buddies beat Rangers in Paisley. That result means that Neil Lennon's side go into Wednesday's Old Firm just one point behind their bitter rivals, having been as many as 15 points behind earlier in the season.

That illustrates the differing form shown by the two sides of the Old Firm in the last few months with Celtic winning their last eight SPL matches while Rangers have dropped points in three of their last six. The Hoops are playing with style and confidence but the Gers look shaky and are suffering with both injuries and suspensions ahead of Wednesday's showdown at Parkhead.

Lee McCulloch will play against Celtic, after Rangers opted to appeal his red card against St Mirren but Dorin Goian will miss the match, as will the injured Steven Naismith and Gregg Wylde. That means that Ally McCoist will have to resuffle his pack with, once again, much of the attacking responsibility set to fall on the shoulders of Nikica Jelavic. The Croatian striker is 11/2 at bet365 to open the scoring and it looks like he will have to if Rangers are to win, at odds of 3/1. Jelavic has scored five of his side's last ten goals and in three of the last four matches in which he has failed to score, Rangers have failed to win.

Celtic are not so reliant on one player to score their goals, although top scorer Gary Hooper is proving to be something of a talisman for the Hoops. The Englishman is 4/1 to break the deadlock on Wednesday and he has scored three times in his last three Old Firms. His likely partner, Georgios Samaras, is, however, in good form as well after netting a brace against Kilmarnock on Christmas Eve. The Greek striker is 6/1 to break the deadlock at Parkhead and he will be well backed to do so.

James Forrest (10/1), Ki Sund Yeung (10/1) and Kris Commons are also capable of chipping in with goals and it is this strength in attack that should see Celtic beat Rangers this week. Neil Lennon's side are even money to win the match and move to the top of the SPL and it seems like far too good an opportunity for the Hoops to miss. They have opened the scoring in the last four Old Firms at Parkhead and have not been behind in the last eight. It is 21/10 that the Bhoys are ahead at half-time and the final whistle and that is a very nice price.

Win Market - Celtic (Evens, bet365)