Celtic are in a superb position in the Premiership right now, leading by nine points. They have more silverware to play for as well though, and Ange Postecoglou’s side have booked their place in the Scottish League Cup final as well. That was the Australian’s first trophy in Scotland, and the team will surely be looking to defend their crown. Standing in their way will be Michael Beale’s Rangers.
One has to admit that the Rangers have improved a lot, in terms of results, following the arrival of Beale as manager, after Giovanni van Bronckhorst was shown the exit door. While Celtic have dominated the Glasgow Derby over the past season-and-a-half, they must prepare for the best version of the Ibrox side for the League Cup final.
It looks like one of the Rangers players will not recover from injury in time, in order to feature in the League Cup final. It is their summer signing, Ridvan Yilmaz, who has struggled to make his mark since arriving at Ibrox.
As tweeted out by Rangers, Beale said in a press conference about Yilmaz:
"“Ridvan will be about another three weeks and I am looking forward to working with him when he returns to full training.”"
Rangers player set to miss League Cup final vs Celtic
Yilmaz has not featured much since joining the Rangers anyway. He was their big signing of the summer but it is clear that it has not worked out for the left-back till now.
According to stats from Transfermarkt, he has made 7 appearances and played 376 minutes of football for Rangers till now, providing an assist.
Thus, even if the 21-year-old would have been fit, it feels unlikely that he would have started the final. It is worth mentioning though that he has been out injured for a few months now and we have never seen him play under the management of Beale. Whatever maybe the case, Celtic should focus on themselves and not at what is happening at Ibrox.