Rangers vs Glasgow City: SWPL title race reaches fever pitch as top two face off

Second-placed Rangers are just three points behind 13-time reigning champions Glasgow City, who they face in the Scottish Women’s Premier League (SWPL) this weekend - a game pivotal to this season’s title race.

GLASGOW, SCOTLAND - APRIL 21: Nicola Docherty in action for Rangers during a SWPL match between Celtic and Rangers at Celtic Park, on April 21, 2021, in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by Craig Foy / SNS Group)

In a game that has been billed as the biggest in the league’s history, Scott Booth’s Glasgow City travel to Malky Thomson’s Rangers this weekend for a top-of-the-table clash that will surely prove crucial to both sides hopes of lifting the SWPL trophy.

A Glasgow City win would put them a commanding six points clear at the summit, while a home win for Gers would allow the title hopefuls to overtake them on goal difference and in pole position to bring home the club’s first trophy and, in turn, wrestle the trophy from the dominant force of 13-time reigning champions Glasgow City.

A fascinating title race has seen both sides go toe-to-toe for the entirety of the season, with Glasgow City winning 12 of their 13 games this term, and Rangers 11, although it was the Gers who inflicted City’s first, and only, defeat of the campaign when they shocked the champions with a resounding 5-0 win at Broadwood in December.

CUMBERNAULD, SCOTLAND - OCTOBER 17: Glasgow City’s Zaneta Wyne and Celtic’s Summer Green during a Scottish Women's Premier League match between Glasgow City and Celtic, on October 18, 2020, in Cumbernauld, Scotland (Photo by Ross MacDonald / SNS Group)

"Glasgow City have been going for years, they’re well coached and a big club. Rangers are the same and we’ve added that competition, along with Celtic this season, so it adds a dynamic and a different dimension to the whole league. We’re really looking forward to it,” said Blue Belles boss Thomson, who also confirmed midfield stars Brogan Hay and Chelsea Cornet have penned new deals with the club.

"We’ve been really confident in training. Glasgow City are three points ahead, so it’s up to us to go and do the exact same thing as we’ve been doing and keeping confidence levels high and playing in the manner and style we play. We create numerous chances, we average 10 attempts at goal per game, and dictate the play in every game with 64% possession. That’s being a top-level club and we’ve got to handle that.”

Meanwhile, City boss Booth says his side are “ready”, adding he doesn’t believe Gers’ 5-0 win in December will enter his players mindset this weekend.

"Each game is completely different. There’s no point in going back to a game five months ago and looking back. We have a new squad and a number of players who weren’t involved in it. For us, this week is about remaining focus. I don’t think it (previous results) comes into football that much. Sometimes you hear that club have a great record at that ground – I don’t know where it comes from, it may be the case, but it’s just coincidence because teams change every year. It comes down to how well we play on the day.

"It’s a game we’re looking forward to. The next week could be vastly significant, but it could not be, the reality of the situation is things change quickly in football – that’s the competitive nature of the league now. We play Rangers and Celtic back to back, and three games in a week. So it’s important you do the job in the first game, then you move on to the next.

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