Glasgow Rangers are in festive action this evening as they return to Scottish Premiership action with a trip to face St Mirren away from Ibrox.
The Gers went into Christmas Day off the back of a 1-0 win over Dundee last weekend, thanks to a goal from Vaclav Cerny, and cut the gap to Celtic at the top of the table down to nine points.
Philippe Clement will be hoping that their rivals drop more points this afternoon and open up the door for the Light Blues to win again and cut the lead further.
The Belgian head coach is set to be without a few players for this clash with St Mirren, though, with a few injury issues in the camp for the Scottish giants.
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Jack Butland was a late withdrawal from the starting XI against Dundee, with Liam Kelly stepping in to keep a clean sheet, to attend the birth of his daughter and could return between the sticks for this clash.
There are three players who certainly will not be involved, however, as Neraysho Kasanwirjo, John Souttar, and Tom Lawrence are all longer-term absentees and will not be available for selection today.
Wales international Rabbi Matondo, whose last appearance came against Celtic in September, has been back in training recently but has not been named in a matchday squad, and it remains to be seen whether or not today will be the day for his return.
With these pieces of team news in mind, and the performances against Dundee last time out, here is Football FanCast’s predicted Rangers line-up to take to the field against St Mirren this evening.
Predicted Rangers XI to face St Mirren
Firstly, vice-captain Butland should return to start in goal after he only missed the 1-0 win last weekend for the birth of his daughter, with Kelly dropping back down to the bench.
With Souttar still out through injury, Clement should keep the back four that kept a clean sheet, with James Tavernier, Dujon Sterling, Robin Propper, and Jefte making up the defence in front of the former England international.
The Belgian head coach should also keep the midfield dynamic the same, as Mohamed Diomande, Nicolas Raskin, and Ianis Hagi provide a strong blend of combative play out of possession and forward-thinking, creative, play on the ball.
|
Vs Dundee |
Hamza Igamane |
|---|---|
|
Minutes played |
84 |
|
Shots |
4 |
|
Big chances missed |
2 |
|
Goals |
0 |
|
Dribbles completed |
2/5 |
|
Possession lost |
20x |
|
Stats via Sofascore |
|
As you can see in the table above, Hamza Igamane struggled on the left flank last time out, missing the high-quality chances that came his way and losing possession far too often.
Clement should drop the Moroccan starlet off the back of that performance and unleash Nedim Bajrami, who Willie Miller claimed has “magnificent footwork”, in his place as part of the front three alongside Danilo and Cerny.
The Albania international has created four ‘big chances’ in seven league starts for the Gers and could provide a creative spark out wide, whilst dropping Igamane could be a good learning experience for the youngster and motivate him to push harder to win his place back.
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Full starting line-up: Jack Butland; James Tavernier, Dujon Sterling, Robin Propper, Jefte; Connor Barron, Mohamed Diomande, Ianis Hagi; Vaclav Cerny, Danilo, Nedim Bajrami