The weekend after next, Rangers visit Parkhead, and Philippe Clement could not have picked a better moment to win an Old Firm match.
With a squad that is barely hanging on, the manager must decrease the gap between them and the top spot in the table, which is now at three points and three goals.
He will have to travel there with a center-half combination that was far from convincing in their previous derby matchup as Rangers attempt to accomplish the seemingly unachievable under Philippe Clement.
Rangers’ demise can be avenged by Ben Davies and John Souttar.
After losing 3-2 at Parkhead in the third Old Firm match of the season in April of last year, Rangers dropped to a 12-point deficit in the league.
That day, Ben Davies and John Souttar were playing defense.
While the latter had been a regular all season, Souttar had been sidelined for nearly the whole season due to an injury that worsened on the first day of play.
They weren’t going to want to relive that afternoon.
For all three goals and one that was disallowed, the pairing were at fault.
Davies for three of them.
At 0-0, Davies fell asleep as he allowed Kyogo Furuhashi to ghost in behind him, only for the assistant referee to raise his flag.
You would think that would be ample warning, however, not long after, Kyogo did it again and this time it counted.
Rangers were able to regain control of the game thanks to a James Tavernier free-kick, but Ben Davies then had another gaffe.
Davies slapped a header into the danger area, and Celtic won 2-1 instead of seeing the ball out or making an attempt to clear it.
And the situation was about to get worse.
When Souttar mishandled a passback and Allan McGregor displayed the agility of a rubbish lorry, Jota made the score 3-1.
All three objectives were avoidable.
Following the 4-1 victory over Kilmarnock, Philippe Clement clarified that this particular tandem will be used once more following Leon Balogun’s injury-time substitution at halftime.
We had to remove him because of this.
“No idea at this time; we’ll find out what the situation is in a few days. Once more, everyone is prepared to stand up and assist the squad.
Rangers defensive duo will need to be at their best at Parkhead
Ben Davies and John Souttar will both have to step up against Celtic next week because, a repeat of their performances in the 3-2 defeat last season will end out title challenge for another season.
A solid display and it is game on.
What should help, is that they will both be on their preferred sides and Davies, as a natural left footer, will help with the balance of the team and to break Celtic’s press.
Souttar has been playing regularly enough now not to have any excuses and it was good to see Davies barking orders at the midfield when they were switiching off.
His future might not be at Ibrox, but Davies has a real chance to payback that £4m transfer fee and put himself in the shop window in the process.
