Will Celtic hold firm or is the title race back on for Rangers?

Former Celtic captain Scott Brown dismissed any notion that his old team are wobbling after they gave title rivals Rangers a glimmer of hope by suffering their first Premiership defeat of the season on Sunday.

However, former Ibrox midfielder Scott Arfield believes the title race is back on and says a resurgent Rangers can change the dynamic at the top of the table if they are able to keep their foot to the floor through the festive period.

Brendan Rodgers team lost 2-1 away to Kilmarnock as their advantage at the top of the table was trimmed to five points by the Philippe Clement's side, who also have a game in hand.

The two Glasgow heavyweights meet at Celtic Park in a game on 30 December.

Brown: Celtic are not wobbling

Brown played down any worries that his old team are about to relinquish their hold on top spot.

"It's only one game," he stressed. "Everyone wants to turn it (the scrutiny) on Celtic now but there are a lot of strong characters in that dressing room, the manager is a strong character as well, so they know what they need to do.

"It's about taking it game to game, not worrying about five games down the line when they're going to play Rangers and what it's going to be like then.

"As it stands, they're five points clear at the top of the league and in a healthy position."

Celtic have four matches - three in the league plus their final Champions League group fixture at home to Feyenoord on Wednesday - before they host Rangers in less than three weeks.

"They'll bounce back," said Brown. "I'm sure Brendan (manager, Rodgers) will make sure they bounce back. They've got so many games coming up so it's about having the relentlessness to bounce back and go again.

"As soon as they go and win the next game, Sunday is forgotten about.

"They're still top of the league, they're still in a healthy position, it's just the first league defeat of the season.

"You can't worry about the outside, what people are saying and doing. It's about make sure everything stays in-house.

"They know they're top-quality players, they know they've got the squad and strength in depth that they can go and do it - and the manager as well - so I'm sure they will bounce back no problem."

When it was put to Brown that Rangers now feel the title race is wide open after Celtic's defeat on Sunday, he smiled mischievously: "Do they?"

Celtic have taken just one point from their five Champions League matches so far and are aiming to win their first home game in the tournament for more than a decade when they host Feyenoord on Wednesday.

Brown, who played for the Hoops from 2007 to 2021, knows from experience how difficult it can be for the Scottish champions to compete in Europe's elite competition.

"There's no pressure on them, everyone knows they're out so they can go and play - not relax but know that win or lose, they can't qualify for anything," said Brown.

"The Champions League is always hard. The home form, yes, I'm sure Brendan will want to get that better. They have had some great performances but just not managed to kill a team off.

"That's what happens. You're playing against the top teams in the world. If someone makes a mistake, you get punished for it."

Arfield: Title race is back on

Former Ibrox midfielder Scott Arfield is confident his old club can continue their strong form under Phillipe Clement and crank up the heat on their bitter rivals in the coming weeks.

"If you looked at it two or three months ago, you wouldn't have thought this could happen but this is Scottish football, this is what it throws up," said Arfield, who was promoting Viaplay's live and exclusive coverage of Sunday's Viaplay Cup final between Rangers and Aberdeen.

"If you read everything everybody was saying, the league was already done but it's proving to be very different to that. It's all about winning the games and setting up a massive game on the 30th at Parkhead."

Celtic looked on course to cruise to the title earlier in the season, a situation that led to Rangers sacking Michael Beale and replacing him with Clement.

Arfield feels that a Viaplay Cup final victory over Aberdeen this Sunday can give the Ibrox side - who have taken 25 points from a possible 27 since Beale's departure - further impetus to challenge for the title.

"If they win the cup on Sunday, that could give them a real boost," he said. "Then they go to Celtic Park on the 30th of this month and, anything could happen, you could potentially go top of the league.

"That would be a huge boost and it's well within their capabilities to do so. Everybody knows how good Celtic are but if they can get it down to two points, you can certainly get momentum with it."

"It's encouraging that they're picking up results, especially with the number of injuries they've got to key players. Obviously they had a mishap (1-1 draw) up at Aberdeen but I think they should be encouraged by the form they've got since the new manager came in.

"It seems like they're going for it now and getting back to where they should be. And then when they get more players coming back from injury, that could certainly propel them into really trying to win that title."

Brown and Arfield were promoting Viaplay's live and exclusive coverage of Rangers v Aberdeen in the Viaplay Cup Final. Viaplay is available to stream from viaplay.com or via your TV provider on Sky, Virgin TV and Amazon Prime as an add-on subscription"

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