Looking to close the gap on arch rivals Celtic at the top of the division, Rangers will welcome top-six chasing Aberdeen to Ibrox Stadium on Tuesday night in the Scottish Premiership.
The Gers secured a comfortable success over strugglers Livingston last time out, while the Dons forced the league leaders to a share of the points.
Since returning from a two-week break in January, Rangers have won four-straight matches across the Scottish Premiership and the Scottish Cup, with Saturday afternoon seeing the Gers make easy work of basements dwellers Livingston in front of nearly 50,000 supporters at Ibrox.
It took the Gers 40 minutes to breach the net of Shamal George courtesy of a strike from Wolverhampton Wanderers loanee Fabio Silva, with Rabbi Matondo adding a second goal prior to the half-time break, before former Norwich City star Todd Cantwell wrapped up the result with a third in the second period.
After denying David Martindale’s side a shot on goal over the course of the 90 minutes, Rangers collected a completely-deserved three points and moved to within just three points of first-placed Celtic, with Brendan Rodgers’s side dropping points for the first time in 2024 on the weekend.
Philippe Clement has been tasked with bringing the Gers back to their former glory following some uncomfortable times under the stewardship of Michael Beale, and the 49-year-old Belgian has lost just one of his 22 competitive games so far, boasting a win percentage of 82%.
Two players currently lead the Golden Boot race at Ibrox, with Brighton & Hove Albion loanee Abdallah Sima and James Tavernier both netting 10 Premiership goals so far in 2023-24, while Cyriel Dessers is the only other man who has scored more than four times for Tuesday’s hosts.
Aberdeen began life without Barry Robson in encouraging fashion on Saturday afternoon, earning a point from a clash with league leaders Celtic at Pittodrie Stadium, with Bojan Miovski scoring for the hosts before substitute Nicolas Kuhn pounced for the Hoops in the 63rd minute.
With interim boss Craig Samson overseeing the share of the spoils with Celtic, the Dons are hopeful of having a permanent face in the dugout before they step onto the Ibrox turf on Tuesday night, with former Huddersfield Town and Sheffield United boss Neil Warnock said to be a possible arrival.
After finishing high enough in the league to clinch Europa Conference League football last term, Aberdeen are languishing down in eighth in this season’s Scottish Premiership standings, sitting one point behind sixth-placed Dundee who welcomed Michael Mellon to their ranks in January.
A real issue for the Dons this campaign has been the overreliance on North Macedonia international Miovski for goals, with the 24-year-old netting 12 of his side’s 25 top-tier goals to date – midfielder Jamie McGrath is the only other player in the squad to have scored over two league goals.
Like the vast majority of clubs within the Scottish system, Aberdeen have a poor overall record against Rangers – winning just seven of their last 39 encounters – but Dons supporters were sent home happy following their September trip to Glasgow, when their side won 3-1.
Rangers could be without the services of centre-back Leon Balogun, who was forced off after just 22 minutes against Livingston due to an injury.
That means Connor Goldson may need a new partner at the heart of the Gers’ defence, with the most likely candidate being 27-year-old John Souttar.
Clement was able to bring Borna Barisic and Ryan Jack off on the hour mark last time out as Rangers dominated, meaning the pair should be fresh and raring to go again on Tuesday.
Aberdeen are unlikely to make too many alterations from the XI who held Celtic to a point on the weekend, so Stefan Gartenmann and Richard Jensen should be the defensive pairing.
The Dons have attacking options such as Duk and Leighton Clarkson if needed, but Killian Phillips and American Dante Polvara should start back-to-back matches.
Rangers possible starting lineup:
Butland; Tavernier, Goldson, Souttar, Barisic; Jack, Lundstram, McCausland, Cantwell, Matondo; Silva
Aberdeen possible starting lineup:
Roos; Devlin, Gartenmann, Jensen, MacKenzie; Barron, Shinnie, Polvara, Phillips, McGrath; Miovski
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