Michael Beale will need to be a "lucky man" to get the better of Ange Postecoglou in the League Cup final on Sunday.

That's the view of former Celtic star Charlie Nicholas.

The Glasgow giants meet at Hampden for the powderkeg derby clash on Sunday.

It will be only the second time that Beale and Postecoglou have locked horns as managers.

The first match, at the beginning of January ended in a 2-2 draw. Since then, the Hoops have maintained their nine point lead over the Ibrox club at the top of the Premiership table.

With that said, neither team have dropped points, so their form is identical heading into Sunday.

But Nicholas reckons Celtic are big favourites to lift the Viaplay Cup. 

READ MORE: Rangers told to target Celtic defender in cup final by Brian Laudrup

Referencing Beale's "lucky man" comments on Postecoglou, Nicholas wrote in the Scottish Daily Express that the Gers manager will need to be that to get the upper hand. 

But he then went on to explain what he felt Beale meant by those words.

He said: "Michael Beale will become the 'lucky man' in Glasgow if his Rangers team manages to beat Celtic and lift the League Cup. Sitting in the Celtic camp, I do expect Celtic to win the cup final this weekend.

"I think Beale has made Rangers better but there is still a gap. Celtic’s squad is much stronger than Rangers. That is an absolute fact.

"Beale is trying to play catch-up. He is not going to win the title. He will know that but will never admit it until it is done. It would still be an amazing capture for Beale to lift the trophy after just coming through the door. Beale is quite an inventive coach and I am sure he will come up with a little tweak here or there.

"We’ve already seen Beale’s comments about Ange. Beale is not saying he is lucky because his teams have been lucky.

"He has basically said he has been lucky because Celtic have bowed to Ange to allow him the power to bring players in. Ange came in and called the shots and he has been lucky in that respect. He has been given total control of the football club.

"That is what I think Beale was referring to. I don’t think he was insinuating that Ange is a lucky manager in terms of results. I would suspect he actually admires the Celtic’s manager’s style of play."

Glasgow Times:

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