Rangers are set for a unique challenge when they travel to Livingston’s artificial surface this afternoon.
Steven Gerrard will be hoping there isn’t going to be another Jamie Murphy-style injury on the Toni Macaroni surface. The much-maligned Livi pitch is set to provide Rangers a big test. But combined with Livingston’s determination to make every match a scrap, this will be a different kind of challenge altogether for Gerrard’s men.
Playing on an artificial surface as poor as Livingston’s is bad enough. Playing a side who will be looking to get crunching into challenges on it will be even worse.
Livingston have perhaps the most aggressive midfield in the Scottish Premiership. Scott Pittman and Shaun Byrne are known for getting stuck in and looking to win the battles that they create. As a pair, they’re a lot more formidable than their lack of a big reputation perhaps gives the impression.
Gerrard’s side has met every challenge head on so far, and they’ll do the same this afternoon.
The midfield battle
Yet, so long as the likes of Ovie Ejaria, Lassana Coulibaly, and Andy Halliday don’t arrive with complacency, Rangers should still be fine. This is the kind of match Coulibaly has to thrive in.
Away to Livingston against a side who’ll look to make life hell for the Rangers midfield. It’ll now be down to Coulibaly in particular to make sure he’s winning that midfield battle and shirking no tackles, of which there will be plenty.
Many sides are going to arrive at Livi and leave with a point or nothing. Rangers can’t afford to be one of those sides. Such is the difficult nature of this Premiership fixture, winning it would be a huge boost to any title challenge.
Not only that, a victory would send out exactly the right message Rangers want. Going to what is a terrible-looking artificial surface against a team who’ll be in your face is a tough ask. Going there and winning, or even winning comfortably, would show that this Rangers team can certainly mix it up.
Whilst people could point to Kilmarnock and say the 3-1 Rugby Park win was impressive, this is a differet challenge entirely. Killie aren’t as aggressive as Livingston, and take more pride in their organisation and ability to move the ball. Livi, on the other hand, just love to get stuck in like terriers.
So Gerrard and his men will make the trip along the M8 this morning. It’s important that they use that time to prepare for what should be a serious challenge this afternoon. If Rangers can do the business, it’ll tell us a lot about this new-look side.
