Celtic winger Daizen Maeda is already looking forward to facing Rangers on Thursday after netting off the bench in the Hoops’ 4-0 rout of St. Johnstone yesterday.
Brendan Rodgers made five changes for the visit of the Perth side, with Maeda dropping out for Nicolas Kuhn, who opened the scoring half an hour in.
Kyogo Furuhashi notched a double in the second 45 before his fellow countryman came off the bench to add some gloss to the scoreline with just under 20 to go.
After yesterday afternoon’s match, Maeda, who has scored twice in two games against Rangers this season, outlined his excitement about the upcoming Glasgow derby on X.
Indeed, he quoted Celtic’s post about his goal against St. Johnstone with a simple message of ‘Let’s go to the next game’:
Let’s go to the next game!💪🔥 https://t.co/9xUtFjB6Dy
— 前田 大然 Daizen Maeda (@M_daizen_1020) December 29, 2024
The 27-year-old has been Rangers’ tormentor over the past 12 months. Maeda constantly gives James Tavernier nightmares and will relish the opportunity to net his third goal at Ibrox on Thursday.
The Scottish Premiership champions head to the other side of Glasgow 14 points clear of their city rivals. Victory would see that gap extended to 17, and then, one would have to say the league would be over if it isn’t already.
Granted, winning at Ibrox isn’t easy, but the Hoops will fancy their chances against a Rangers team who remain in utter crisis.
