You could count on one hand the number of times that Rangers have won the majority of their league meetings with Celtic in a single season post-2010.
Despite Brendan Rodgers' men continuing to dominate the honours this campaign, they have fallen short against their fierce rivals on several occasions.
A 3-0 New Year loss at Ibrox was, at the time, viewed as a one-off, but when Hamza Igamane netted late on to give Rangers only their third victory in over a decade at Parkhead, Celtic's form against the men from Govan was rightfully put under the microscope.
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Callum McGregor missed that shock home defeat through injury but will be one of the first names on the team sheet when he and his clubmates travel across the city this weekend. "It’s probably the perfect game for us, given the context of the season," he said.
"Ibrox is a very difficult place to go. And what they had in the game in January was a really nice template for the because they'd just played us two weeks before that. They were good in the game. We were maybe not so good, but they had a really good template. They were at home. They scored early. So that can be difficult.
"We've done that to Rangers many times at Celtic Park. We've scored early, we've scored again and then all of a sudden, the game gets away from you. We know as players that you can have an off day there. That's part of football. You're playing against a good team and when the crowd get going, then it's a difficult place to play football.
"I think the last [derby] game at Celtic Park, we didn't start well. They scored early. And then it's the opposite of that. Then, having the home crowd can make it worse for you sometimes. And then when you lose the second one before half-time, you give yourself a mountain to climb.
"But we actually got back into the game really well. We started playing our football. We started then finding the pockets and the spaces. We got two back. And then you think that at that point, there's only going to be one team that wins it, and then a wee bit of luck where the ball gets smashed long, Cameron [Carter-Vickers] gets underneath it, Alistair [Johnston] slips, and then it's a good finish from there. It is small details."
The previous two derbies had no significance on the destination of the Scottish Premiership title. In December, however, when silverware was up for grabs, Celtic got the job done, defeating Rangers on penalties after an enthralling three-all draw in 120 minutes.
For McGregor, that game ranks of higher importance than recent league meetings, as he considered what he described as the current ‘narrative’ surrounding the fixture. "We won the one that mattered. And again, that's mentality. Not that the other ones don't matter. But there was one where there's a trophy on the line, and we get over the line with that one.
"I know the narrative around the games has been that Rangers have been the better team - better when you look at results, yes, probably. The only way for us to turn that narrative on the outside is to go there [Ibrox] and win. If we do that, then everything I'm saying here is vindicated. So that's the pressure that we want to put on ourselves.
"We want to go there, we want to win. We know it'll be difficult, but we believe that we're good enough to do it. That's the pressure that we want to put on ourselves, like I said.
"When we go back in tomorrow, that will be the focus - trying to turn the narrative on the outside that we want to go there and be the dominant team and win the game. Listen, if we don't, then we don't. That's part of football as well. We have to then reset and go again next season and try and be successful again next season. But for us, the mindset is to go there and win."
