Rangers v Celtic: First Old Firm of the season decides cup semi-final place
The first Old Firm derby of the season will decide a cup semi-final place on Sunday.
Rangers host Celtic at Ibrox at 12:00 BST on 13 September in the quarter-final of the Premier Sports Cup, Scotland's League Cup competition. It is the first meeting of the Glasgow rivals this season BBC Sport.
It will also be Derek McInnes' first derby as Rangers manager. The Old Firm is the name given to the Rangers-Celtic rivalry, one of the most intense in British football.
Celtic arrive as league leaders in perfect domestic form. They have won all six of their Scottish Premiership matches, scoring 14 goals and conceding three BBC Sport. As of 11 September, that record put them top on 18 points, with Rangers second on 13.
Rangers needed time to get going. McInnes was winless in his first two league games after an opening draw at Dundee United and a defeat to Hibernian. They then beat St Mirren in the League Cup and won their next four league matches in a row, including a 1-0 win over St Mirren on 9 September.
Both clubs have taken European hits already. Celtic beat Austrian side LASK 3-0 in the first leg of their Champions League play-off, then lost 5-1 away to go out 5-4 on aggregate. They will play in the Europa League, European football's second-tier club competition, this season BBC Sport.
Rangers are out of Europe. They lost 2-1 to Poland's Jagiellonia Bialystok and drew 1-1 at home to drop into the Conference League play-offs. They beat Czech side Jablonec 1-0 at home in the first leg, but lost the return on penalties.
The atmosphere will be different. There will be no away supporters at Ibrox on Sunday under a temporary arrangement between the clubs and the SPFL covering derbies this season. That is a sharp change from March, when around 8,000 Celtic fans attended Ibrox for a penalty-shootout win.
There is wider context too. The Scottish FA has ordered both clubs to play their next home Scottish Cup ties behind closed doors after unrest and pitch incursions at last season's Scottish Cup quarter-final at Ibrox.
For supporters, this is a familiar fixture with an unfamiliar edge. New manager, perfect leaders, cup jeopardy. Kick-off is at noon.
What happens next will come quickly. The draw for the Premier Sports Cup semi-finals takes place on Sunday, 13 September SPFL. Heart of Midlothian are already through. The league return follows soon, with Celtic due to host Rangers at 12:00 on 20 September.
