Rangers take on St Johnstone on Sunday in a Scottish Cup quarter-final at Ibrox as Steven Gerrard’s quest for a domestic double heats up.
The Gers drew 1-1 with the same opposition at McDiarmid Park in the Premiership on Wednesday night, but a much-improved performance is expected in this rematch, given that a place at Hampden is at stake.
Scott Wright scored Rangers’ only goal in Perth. (Photo by Willie Vass – Pool/Getty Images)
Gerrard made seven changes for the midweek match in Perth and of those brought in, only really Jon McLaughlin and Scott Wright stood out.
Allan McGregor will return between the sticks on Sunday evening, though, and while the manager said that Wright is “pushing for a start” in the tie [RangersTV], he rarely plays two pacy wide players, so it’s likely that he will be dropped, with Ryan Kent coming back in.
In fact, we predict that the Gers boss will simply revert to the side that defeated Celtic in the Fourth Round last weekend, with the exception of fit-again James Tavernier starting in place of the ineligible Nathan Patterson.
James Tavernier will captain Rangers in Sunday’s Scottish Cup quarter-final against St Johnstone. (Photo by Willie Vass – Pool/Getty Images)
That means that the back four in front of McGregor would consist of Tavernier, Connor Goldson, Filip Helander and Borna Barisic.
Steven Davis, Glen Kamara and Scott Arfield will then form a strong midfield three, with Joe Aribo and Ryan Kent taking up the inside forward berths and Alfredo Morelos leading the line.
Rangers Predicted XI vs St Johnstone 25/04/2021 (H):
Allan McGregor
James Tavernier
Connor Goldson
Filip Helander
Borna Barisic
Scott Arfield
Steven Davis
Glen Kamara
Joe Aribo
Ryan Kent
Alfredo Morelos
In other news, the TV details for the fixture have been confirmed.