Rangers face Kilmarnock in Saturday’s early kick off, looking to make up for the disappointing result against St Johnstone. It’s a game bound to be difficult against a confident Kilmarnock side on their plastic pitch. With 10 points gained from their last 4 games, the Ayrshire side are one of the form teams in the league.
KILMARNOCK LAST FIVE LEAGUE RESULTS
Aberdeen (Home), 3-1 defeat
St Johnstone (Away), 2-1 win
Partick Thistle (Home), 5-1 win
Ross County (Away), 2-2 draw
Motherwell (Home), 1-0 win
In their last match, Kilmarnock showed they’re in a place where grinding out wins is possible. They were put under pressure by Motherwell throughout, but held on to take the points. They also have various options in terms of team selection. Experienced players like Kris Boyd, Burke, Mulumbu and Broadfoot can be supplemented by prospects like Jordan Jones and Greg Kiltie. Eamonn Brophy and Kris Boyd have been scoring some goals for them in recent matches. Under Steve Clarke, it’s clear that they’ve improved massively from the start of the season.
The previous meeting between the sides saw the end of Caixinha and the start of Clarke. It was the first match for the Kilmarnock manager. Whilst his team were lucky to get the draw, the result led to the situation Rangers have been in ever since. The home side here are on an upward curve and playing with confidence. Rangers are yet to find a new manager and performances have been inconsistent at best.
The defeat to St Johnstone last weekend was a result Rangers fans could see was coming. Despite being the team on top of the form table in the last five league matches, it was clear the team wasn’t playing well. In his spells as caretaker, Murty has struggled in away matches to sides in the bottom six. Kilmarnock are clearly playing like a team that should be higher up in the league as well. It’s difficult to predict how either side will approach this match.
Rangers come into the game with a number of players unavailable. The injuries to Miller and Dorrans will see them out for a good while. Ryan Jack completes the third match of his suspension. It’s doubtful that Lee Wallace is available at this stage despite getting back into full training. The squad is stretched somewhat thin of late. Despite that, it’s not clear what the starting team will be. I suspect that we’ll move back to the 4-4-2 with the narrow midfield for this game.
MORE RANGERS STORIES
PREDICTED STARTING LINE UP
Foderingham
Tavernier
Alves
Wilson
John
McCrorie
Holt
Barjonas
Pena
Windass
Morelos
If it’s decided that we should go 4-5-1/4-3-3, Candeias will come in for Pena no doubt.
The approach of Rangers will be largely dictated by how Kilmarnock decide to play. In the games against Aberdeen and Hibs, Rangers were able to score goals and find space to create chances. Against St Johnstone and Ross County, they were given loads of the ball and struggled to play with a high tempo. It’s not clear if Kilmarnock will look to have a go, or play to frustrate. In their last defeat against Aberdeen, they were a goal down inside a minute and never got going. Rangers will need to play much better than they have in their last three matches to take anything from this game.
The plastic pitch, as always, will be a talking point. Rangers won well in their match away to Hamilton this season on a similar surface. I wouldn’t suggest it was a great performance on the night though. Hamilton were really struggling at that point, and we took advantage. The weather is likely to be wet and windy, and that alone will have the potential to ruin the match.
In terms of a prediction, I have a feeling we’ll see a better performance from the team. Whilst the match is unlikely to be a great spectacle, I believe that Rangers will win the key battles and win the match 2-0.
What’s your prediction for Saturday? Tweet us @rangersnewsuk with your thoughts!