Rangers are preparing to face off against Hearts in the Scottish Cup Final as they aim to lift the trophy for the first time in 13 years.
You have to go back to 2009 and Nacho Novo’s Hampden wonderstrike which proved decisive in a 1-0 win over Falkirk.
Since then Rangers have made just one Final appearance – in the ill-fated 3-2 defeat to Hibs in 2016 – and the club will be hoping to banish its Hampden hoodoo against the Jambos.
The Ibrox side will also have to pick themselves up from an excruciating penalty loss to Eintracht Frankfurt in the Europa League Final.
The Gers played 120 minutes in the searing Seville heat before seeing their side slip to a 5-4 penalty defeat with Aaron Ramsey’s miss proving decisive in the shoot-out.
We expect as a result of that there will be some rotation in squad and here’s our predicted XI for the Scottish Cup Final clash with Hearts.
Rangers predicted XI v Hearts in Scottish Cup Final
Giovanni van Bronckhorst has already confirmed that Jon McLaughlin will start between the sticks whilst we expect stalwarts James Tavernier and Connor Goldson to retain their place.
In the absence of Borna Barisic – who went off injured against the Germans – Calvin Bassey should shift over to the left and free up Leon Balogun to start at centre back.
In midfield, Ryan Jack and Steven Davis are being given the nod to kick off proceedings with Joe Aribo tipped to start ahead of them.
That means we’re tipping Aaron Ramsey to at most start on the bench after his penalty miss.
Up top, we expect Kemar Roofe to start with Ryan Kent on the left and Scott Arfield playing off the right.
It’s a big ask for this Rangers team to go back to the well against Hearts in the Scottish Cup Final.
But with the backing of the fans we’re sure they can bring that trophy home to Ibrox and help to banish some of the blues from the midweek defeat to Frankfurt.
Rangers predicted XI v Hearts in Scottish Cup Final
GK – Jon McLaughlin
DR – James Tavernier
DC – Connor Goldson
DC – Leon Balogun
DL – Calvin Bassey
CDM – Steven Davis
CDM – Ryan Jack
CAM – Joe Aribo
RF – Scott Arfield
ST – Kemar Roofe
LF – Ryan Kent