Sunday’s League Cup semi-final was always going to be an unmissable event, but this latest Old Firm derby is even more intriguing than usual.

Both Glasgow giants have changed managers in recent weeks, with this only Danny Röhl’s fourth match in charge of Rangers, while Martin O’Neill is back in the Celtic hot seat on an interim basis, following Brendan Rodgers’ shock resignation on Monday.

For Röhl, it feels as though momentum is starting to build in Glasgow’s West End, following back-to-back Premiership victories over Kilmarnock and Hibs so far this week.

Nevertheless, there is nothing quite like an Old Firm derby to set the zeitgeist, so victory at the national stadium on Sunday would only enhance Röhl’s hero status among the Rangers support, but what lineup should he select against their fierce rivals?

Rangers team news vs Celtic

First and foremost, it has transpired this week that midfielder Connor Barron is suspended.

The £14k-per-week star has been cautioned during both League Cup ties so far this season, victories over Alloa Athletic and Hibernian at Ibrox, so will serve a one-match ban at Hampden.

Given that Barron started the mid-week win at Easter Road, at least one change to the lineup will be required, but a few more are forecast.

Elsewhere, Dujon Sterling remains sidelined long-term due to an achilles injury, still yet to feature this season, but attacker Oliver Antman could return, having missed the last two matches due to illness, which would be a boost.

In total, four changes are forecast when compared to the lineup that left Leith with all three points on Wednesday, but will this team have enough to defeat Celtic?

Rangers predicted XI vs Celtic

As Danny Röhl seeks to figure out which players he can count on, one man whose spot is not up for debate is Jack Butland.

He was the Gers’ hero against Hibs in mid-week, saving a late Jamie McGrath spot-kick, thereby preserving the club’s first clean sheet away from Ibrox since December last year, a sequence of 25 matches that broke the club-record set in Victorian times.

In front of him, Röhl is likely to stick with the back three deployed in both domestic matches so far.

This is good news for Nasser Djiga who, after high-profile mistakes against Dundee and Club Brugge in August, sent off in the former and rather gifting the Belgians a goal in the latter, found himself cast aside.

Nevertheless, the Wolves loanee will keep his place alongside Derek Cornelius and John Souttar.

At wing-back is where the first change will be made.

Having been introduced at half time in Edinburgh, James Tavernier will return, making his 43rd Old Firm appearance, but there is a question mark over who gets the nod on the other side.

The captain replaced Jayden Meghoma in the capital, with Max Aarons shifting across to left-wing-back, so it’s tough to forecast who Röhl will go for, but the teenager on loan from Brentford is the more natural option.

In the middle, given Barron’s suspension, Mohamed Diomandé is the obvious candidate to come in and partner Nicolas Raskin, the pair rekindling their partnership that was the most effective part of Rangers’ team last season.

In this system, Röhl needs two players who can cover a lot of ground, something that certainly is not Joe Rothwell’s forte.

Attack is, by a significant distance, the toughest area of the team to forecast, with seven players, realistically, vying for three spots.

Having scored in each of the last two matches, thereby on target in back-to-back Premiership appearances for the first time since December, Danilo is likely to keep his place, but could be the only member of Wednesday’s front three to do so.

After a generally anonymous performance in Leith, Mikey Moore is set to drop out, the Spurs loanee still yet to score for the Gers.

This would see Djeidi Gassama return to the forward line, having scored five times so far this season, albeit all of which have come in Europe, looking to change that at Hampden.

When he arrived, then-manager Russell Martin labelled the Frenchman “an exciting player who will get supporters on the edge of their seats”, and that has certainly proved to be the case so far.

To complete the forward line, Röhl seems to see something in Youssef Chermiti that supporters do not, the 21-year-old joining Rangers for £8m from Everton, a fee that could rise all the way to £10m, a club record in the post-liquidation era.

The big money signing has started two of the last three games, scoring his first goal for the club off the bench against Killie last Sunday.

However, deploying two centre-forwards against Celtic would be bold, which may well count against both Chermiti and Bojan Miovski, meaning Thelo Aasgaard is the most likely candidate to come in, chosen over Antman, given his recent bout of illness.

Formation: 3-4-2-1

GK

Jack Butland

CB

John Souttar

CB

Nasser Djiga

CB

Derek Cornelius

RWB

James Tavernier

CM

Nicolas Raskin

CM

Mohamed Diomandé

LWB

Jayden Meghoma

RM

Thelo Aasgaard

LM

Djeidi Gassama

CF

Danilo

Röhl does have options and plenty of talent to work with, even if that certainly did not appear to be the case during Martin’s ill-fated tenure.

So, does this XI have enough quality to beat a depleted Celtic?

Only time will tell!