Celtic vs Glasgow City: SWPL champions visit Hoops knowing win edges 14th title closer

Taple toppers Glasgow City made huge strides towards a historic 14th title in a row with big weekend win at Rangers and could pull further clear with a second Old Firm victory over Celtic tonight.

EAST KILBRIDE, SCOTLAND - APRIL 04: Celtic's Keeva Keenan (L) in action with Jo Love of Glasgow City during the SWPL match between Celtic and Glasgow City at K-Park, on April 04, 2021, in East Kilbride, Scotland. (Photo by Craig Foy / SNS Group)

The Scottish Women’s Premier League (SWPL) title race seems to have a little more clarity heading into the final round of fixtures, as Fran Alonso’s Celtic welcome top of the table Glasgow City for this evening’s 7.40pm kick-off at the K-Park Training Academy.

After being neck and neck with Rangers for the majority of the campaign, Scott Booth’s City pulled six points clear of their Old Firm rivals thanks to a brace from Costa Rican hotshot Priscila Chinchilla.

In turn, City’s 2-0 victory over Gers allowed Celtic, who have sat in third for the majority of the campaign, to overtake Malky Thomson’s Rangers to move into second, five points behind Booth’s side, reigniting hope that they could yet mount a late challenge to the SWPL crown.

And as they get to set to welcome Scotland’s dominant force in women’s football, the mission statement for the Hoops is simple – win the game and given yourself one final shot at a first SWPL title.

The away side will go into the game as favourites though, and know a win would move them eight points clear of Celtic. Rangers, who face rock bottom Hearts this evening, would also remain at arms length.

Despite those gaps beginning to open up for the first time in the campaign, City boss Booth refused to veer away from the mantra of ‘one game at a time’.

"It was a big win. A really big win [Sunday’s victory over Rangers], however, you have to take it in the context with the amount of games we still have to play,” said the Glasgow City boss.

"You can’t be a coach or a player and think any challenge you have ahead is in the bag. We are looking forward to the game and we know it’ll be tough. The idea is we come out with three points, but we know it’s going to be challenging.

"There’s a lot of football to be played. I can’t think think past the Celtic game and getting three points. There’s no point in going there – I know it’s a bit boring, but it’s the reality of the situation. Celtic are capable on their day and have proven that with their two wins against Rangers. There’s a reason they are sitting where they are in the table and there’s no way we can look any further than this game.

“Celtic, like Rangers, are aggressive in the way they play. They’re strong on set pieces and, at the moment, are quick down both sides. They’ve got pace and players that can dribble. There’s a well tested striker in Lisa Ewans up top as well, who has plenty of pace. They are a different style to Rangers and we’ll set up to counteract that and offer some surprises ourselves.”

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