Glasgow Rangers will be looking to return to winning ways in the Premiership this afternoon, otherwise it will be another campaign without a league title.
The Boxing Day defeat to St Mirren means the Ibrox side now trails Celtic by a staggering 12 points, with over half the season still to be played.
Philippe Clement is certainly a man under serious pressure and several of his starting XI let him down against the Buddies, most notably Nedim Bajrami.
Nedim Bajrami’s game in numbers vs St Mirren
The Albanian midfielder was deployed in his preferred position as a number ten on Thursday, but it’s fair to say his performance was a massive disappointment.
Throughout the first half, he completed just 11 passes, took 22 touches and won zero duels. Going forward, Bajrami failed to even register a shot at goal while failing to succeed with his only dribble attempt.
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St Mirren vs Rangers – Key stats |
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|---|---|
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Stat |
Highest Ranked |
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Accurate passes |
Dujon Sterling (74) |
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Key passes |
Hamza Igamane (4) |
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Tackles |
Richard Taylor (5) |
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Ground duels won |
Mohamed Diomande(7) |
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Shots on target |
Danilo (3) |
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Via Sofascore |
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It was no surprise to see him subbed off after just 45 minutes as he was replaced by Danilo, who scored the club’s only goal of the evening.
Against Motherwell, the former Sassuolo midfielder must be dropped, and this could mean Mohamed Diomande is relocated to an attacking midfield role.
With this change, Nicolas Raskin will come back into the starting XI after dropping to the bench for the midweek clash, and it could be a change which works wonders for the Light Blues against the Steelmen.
Why Nico Raskin must be unleashed against Motherwell
With Diomande moving to a more advanced role this afternoon, there is a free space next to Connor Barron which Raskin could fill with ease, especially considering how impressive the Belgian has been over the previous few weeks.
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The £19k-per-week gem has emerged as one of Clement’s most consistent performers recently, cementing his place in the starting XI.
In the top flight this term, Raskin has averaged a 90% pass success rate along with winning 65% of his total duels and averaging 3.3 tackles per game. This tenacious side to his game is one of Raskin’s finest qualities and could come in handy against Well today.
A few years ago, journalist Bob Faesen lavished praise on the young player as he was making his breakthrough with Standard Liege, saying:
“He is still only 19, but he has really shone. He is a box-to-box midfielder. He can play in every position in the middle of the park. He is technically gifted, but he is also a bit of a pitbull.”
These qualities have shown through over the previous few months as the midfielder has finally broken into Clement’s starting XI and is delivering on his massive potential.
Slotting him in alongside Barron will allow the Ibrox side to dictate the play against Well, ensuring that the side will have control of the ball for the majority of the game.
Three points is all that matters, especially with an Old Firm clash coming up on January 2nd.
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