A proud record is on the line at Ibrox today

Billy Mehmet holds a piece of history

Discounting results at neutral venues – Hampden and Murrayfield – Celtic are unbeaten away from home in domestic cup ties for more than 12 years. They’ve won 27 of those 28 matches, and also forced a 2-2 draw against Rangers at Ibrox with 10 men in 2011. Their last defeat came when Gordon Strachan’s side went down 1-0 to a Billy Mehmet penalty in the 2009 Scottish Cup quarter-final – just seven days after being thrashed 7-0 at Parkhead in the Premiership.

Fixed-odds punters should stay away from penalty bets in today’s showdown. Rangers have conceded only one spotkick in their last 51 domestic matches, when Jamie Mcgrath scored St Mirren’s opening goal in their 3-2 Betfred Cup quarter-final win in December, after Calvin Bassey had brought down Dylan Connolly.

Rangers have gone 44 league fixtures since a referee last pointed to the spot, only for Celtic’s Ryan Christie to have his effort saved by Allan Mcgregor in a 2-1 win for Rangers at Parkhead on December 29, 2019.

Red-card wagers should also be avoided.

Since Alfredo Morelos was dismissed in the final minute of the above match, Rangers have gone 50 games against Scottish opposition without having a player sent off, although several have received that punishment retrospectively. Alfredo Morelos ended a four-year, 14game wait for his first derby goal when the Colombian equalised in the 1-1 draw at Celtic Park last month. Team-mate Steve Davis, meanwhile, has gone over 10 years and 11 matches since his last strike against the Hoops.

The UK’S most-capped footballer notched the opener in a 2-1 League Cup Final victory on March 20, 2011.

Rangers are undefeated in their last four meetings with their city rivals.

The last time they were unbeaten in five against them was when they racked up four wins and a draw between December 17, 2006 and March 29, 2008.

Steven Gerrard’s first success against Celtic (a 1-0 win at Ibrox courtesy of Ryan Jack’s deflected shot on December 29, 2018) ended sequence of 10 wins and two draws in the fixture under Brendan Rodgers for the visitors.