Rangers icon Brian Laudrup believes Ange Postecoglou's instant impact has Celtic in a better place than their rivals ahead of Sunday's blockbuster at Ibrox.
Steven Gerrard 's side romped to the title last season but their rivals seem in a better place under the stewardship of the attacking Australian.
The Danish wing king forged his fearsome reputation by often turning Scottish football's marquee fixture on its head with a winner in the 90s and he reckons the latest instalment won't disappoint.
And he believes Postecoglou's clear message on how he wants the game to be played has Celtic in fine fettle after a season where they lost the title by an eye-popping 25 points.
Speaking in his Daily Mail column, he said: "If you look at it from the outside - not as a fan of either club - you would say Celtic definitely look the more prepared side ahead of Sunday's first Old Firm game. Not the better side in terms of overall quality, that's a different issue altogether, but a more settled one in terms of knowing exactly how they want to play and being able to achieve that.
"Postecoglou has implemented his ideas very quickly. Another six goals were scored on Saturday. Yes, it was against a St Mirren team reduced to ten men but it again showed how positive they want to be. I think it must be of some concern at Ibrox.
"This is a different challenge for Rangers as the reigning champions. And one they have to rise to. So far this term, the balance of their team is not quite what it was.
"Last season, they were incredibly well engineered defensively. This week would be the perfect time to rediscover that kind of form.
"There are a lot of different little things that can affect that balance. The personnel in defence has often changed in recent weeks as Gerrard has sought a reaction, although I think the introduction of Calvin Bassey has largely been a positive at left-back.
"Collectively, there have been too many silly fouls and mistakes which have made the team not as solid as we saw before."
