Can any of the new faces flip the script and inject some positivity into Old Firm proceedings?

You have to hand it to Rangers and Celtic. Each — in their own special way — have made every effort to unite both sets of supporters ahead of the first Old Firm meeting of the season.

In a week which is normally defined by the differences — petty and otherwise — between the respective clubs, it’s somewhat refreshing to see everyone come together as one.

On both sides of the great Glasgow divide, everyone and their granny is absolutely fuming. There may be some notable distinctions between the root causes, but the underlying feeling is exactly the same.

It comes off the back of a truly embarrassing couple of days on the continent which saw both clubs dumped out of the Champions League with a whimper. In fact, that’s perhaps being too kind.

Who in their right mind would have thought Celtic would put up a worse performance in Kazakhstan on Tuesday than the one they produced in the first leg at Parkhead?Well, they did. Quite comfortably as it turned out.

The Parkhead board has taken it in the neck this week for dragging their heels when it comes to their failure to sufficiently bolster the squad this summer.

No doubt that criticism has been justified. But, by now, is anyone really surprised by how it’s panned out?

Brendan Rodgers certainly isn’t. He’s turned into some sort of AI bot over the past month, responding to the same questions with the same answers. Anyone who still believes he’ll be around this time next season needs to give their head a wobble. He shouldn’t be absolved of blame for what transpired a couple of hundred miles from the Chinese border midweek.

For all the talk about a lack of quality at the top end of the field, Rodgers and his players should have been able to take care of that lot.

Rangers, after getting through two qualifiers against Panathinaikos and Viktoria Plzen, were always expected to come a cropper against Club Brugge.

No one quite expected it to be such an excruciating experience, mind you. They shipped six on Wednesday. It could have been double that. Russell Martin already looks like a dead man walking.

The fans were patient with Giovanni van Bronckhorst at the helm. Michael Beale and Philippe Clement were also given a bit of leeway despite overseeing their fair share of brutal results.

The fact that sections of the Ibrox faithful would accept seeing their team lose this afternoon if that meant Martin was punted out the door as a result highlights just how toxic things have become.

You have to wonder how many will even bother turning up, or tuning in, given the current state of affairs. Is there anything to get excited about?

There’s always the hope that Bojan Miovski will get an opportunity to become an instant Rangers hero.

The former Aberdeen striker has returned to Scotland a little over a year after he made the move to Spanish top-flight side Girona.

While his goalscoring touch largely deserted him last season, there’s no denying he is a sizeable improvement on what Rangers currently have at the top end of the pitch.

His track record speaks for itself, particularly in so-called big games. The Macedonian hit seven goals in 16 outings for the Dons against the Old Firm.

He’s also turned up when it mattered at Hampden, and notched a few in Europe as well. Surely he’s worth chucking in at the deep end today?

Erling Haaland would struggle to score in this team though, such has been their glaring inability to create chances.

So Russell, while you’re at it, why not let Mikey Moore loose? It’s fair to say the 18-year-old’s signing from Tottenham was a strange one.

This Rangers squad clearly needed a lot of work. But bringing in a teenager with only a handful of first-team appearances to his name should not have been a priority.

That being said, he’s a talented boy, and likely won’t be held back by the same fear that’s gripped his more experienced colleagues of late.

In Djeidi Gassama, Rangers have someone who — on his day — can make the difference. Those days have been restricted to midweek fixtures against European opposition though. It’s not been quite as electric on the domestic front.

The jury is very much still out on the winger, as is the case with Oliver Antman on the other flank.

The good news for Rangers is that this version of Celtic are eminently beatable.

Yes, they have a 100-per-cent record on the domestic front, but the football has done little to capture the imagination. Workmanlike, professional, but hardly scintillating to watch.

Goodness knows who will provide the goals this afternoon. Adam Idah may be in Swansea come kick-off. He may be on the bench. He may be leading the line. What a shambles.

Daizen Maeda will of course start, but he looks like a shadow of the player who tore the league to shreds last year. Has his head been turned?

Perhaps the inclusion of new signing Michel Ange-Balikwisha will provide that much-needed spark. The Belgian has been an ever-present for Royal Antwerp this season, thus should be fit and raring to go if called upon.

Celtic have been crying out for a bit of pace and sharpness in the final third ever since Kyogo Furuhashi left. Nicolas Kuhn’s summer move to Como simply served to shine a bigger spotlight on the problem.

Balikwisha should be able to solve that. And he’ll fancy his chances of doing some real damage against a Rangers back line who increasingly look like they’ve never met.

He, of course, isn’t the only one making his Old Firm debut. Benjamin Nygren hasn’t taken long to get settled at Parkhead since arriving from Danish club Nordsjaelland.

The Swede isn’t unlike Matt O’Riley, in terms of his playing style, and has the potential to be a real fans’ favourite. A big performance today would likely raise a smile amongst a fed-up looking Celtic support. Maybe.

The build-up to this one has — unsurprisingly — been marred by nothing but negativity. Let’s see if anyone is able to flip the script.