Premier League legend desperate for Rangers to bottle title race as Celtic wink leaves fans screaming at TV

Premier League legend Shay Given is keen to see Rangers stumble and fall in the title race with Celtic - as he knows his verdict will leave fans screaming at their small screens.

The Newcastle hero made 450 appearances in the English top flight as a goalkeeper, keeping an impressive 113 clean sheets across time with the Toon, Blackburn, Man City, Aston Villa and Stoke City. It cemented his status as one of the division's best-ever keepers, with only 17 shot-stoppers in its history keeping over 100 clean sheets.

Before EPL fame, he was in the Celtic youth academy, where Kenny Dalglish spotted his talent and brought him to Blackburn. His Hoops allegiances haven't left him if his latest verdict is anything to go by.

Philippe Clement's Rangers are two points ahead of Brendan Rodgers' Hoops in a tight race for the Premiership title. Both feature in the Scottish Cup quarter-final matches this weekend - with Celtic hosting Livingston and Rangers going to Hibs - but attention will soon turn back to the ultimate honour.

Given is hopeful that the Light Blues will be served a custard pie, but knows it will likely be a photo-finish the way things are panning out. He told Football Focus when asked if Rangers would come out on top: “I hope not! Rangers fans are shouting at the TV now. It’s exciting again from a neutral point of view – there’s a real title race because Celtic have been so strong over the last number of years.

“They have only played each other twice so far. It’s so close and it’ll go down to the wire. I hope Brendan [Rodgers] can swing that deficit around of course but it's an exciting title race north of the border."