Rangers v Celtic: Odsonne Edouard against Alfredo Morelos, who wins their side more points?
Last updated on .From the section Scottish Premiership
| Scottish Premiership: Rangers v Celtic |
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| Venue: Ibrox Stadium, Glasgow Date: Saturday, 29 December Kick-off: 12:30 GMT |
| Coverage: Listen on BBC Radio Scotland 810MW/DAB/online; live text commentary on BBC Sport website & app |
The strikers of Celtic and Rangers are set to play a pivotal role in Saturday's Old Firm derby.
Celtic will be in a buoyant mood going into the game at Ibrox, with Odsonne Edouard picking up two goals and two assists in his last four Scottish Premiership games.
In the other side of Glasgow, Rangers' own star striker, Alfredo Morelos, has scored four goals and an assist in his last five league matches.
But which striker is routinely popping up to create or score the pivotal goals this season? BBC Sport Scotland takes a look.
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Points won from goals and assists
Although both players are unquestionably the talismen for their respective sides, it's worth digging in to the goals and assists Morelos and Edouard bring to discover if they're thriving in crucial moments of games or simply padding their stats against lesser foes.
When it comes to goals that have won Rangers significant points this season - or won them a win or draw in knock-out games - Morelos stands at an impressive 10 points in domestic competitions and another four in European games.
In comparison, Edouard comes in a little shorter with four points directly won in domestic games and a further four in Europe from his goals.
To the delight of both sets of fans, Morelos and Edouard are capable of creating goals with the same ease as which they score them. And when we dig in to their assists this season it's clear to see that both of these complete forwards have set up their teammates at crucial moments in Scottish and European competition.
So far this season Morelos' 10 assists in all competitions have won Rangers a further three points, while Edouard's six assists have earned Brendan Rodgers' side a further two. Yet again the Rangers striker pips his French counterpart.
In fact, when we combine both players' goals and assists over all competitions we end up with Morelos winning Rangers 17 points to Edouard's 10 for Celtic.
Both tallies are fantastic returns for each, young player but it seems as though the Rangers striker has been more pivotal to his side so far this season.
Intriguingly, Edouard enjoys a better goals per 90-minute ratio in the Premiership and European competition this season - 0.79 and 0.49 to Morelos' 0.74 and 0.31 respectively - which perhaps suggests the Celtic striker is capable of scoring more goals than his Rangers counterpart, but hasn't done so in as many pivotal moments.
Celtic may have the better goalscorer, but they don't rely upon him nearly as much as Rangers do on Morelos' expertise in the final third.
'I would probably pick Morelos on form' - analysis
Former Scotland striker and BBC Sport Scotland pundit Steven Thompson
If you're going to isolate it to strikers, the difference is that Celtic have far more players that can hurt you out with Edouard. Whereas with Rangers, Morelos seems to be so talismanic for them. And when he's not firing maybe the goals aren't coming from other areas of the team.
They're both very different types of strikers. I think had it not been for the cameo that Edouard had just had [at Pittodrie] - because when he came on against Aberdeen he was absolutely sensational - I would have probably gone for Morelos.
Morelos is the sort of player that can be quiet throughout a match but pop up with vital goals. If I was going to pick one I would probably pick Morelos on this season's form.
