Rangers will look to close the gap on Celtic when they host Aberdeen in the Scottish Premiership. Last time out, the Gers defeated Livingston with ease. The Dons forced the league leaders to share the point total.
Preview (Rangers vs. Aberdeen)
Rangers have won four straight games in both the Scottish Premiership and the Scottish Cup since returning from a two-week vacation in January. On Saturday afternoon, in front of around 50,000 fans at Ibrox, the Gers easily defeated Livingston. It took the Gers forty minutes to break through Shamal George’s net thanks to a goal from Wolverhampton Wanderers loanee Fabio Silva. Rabbi Matondo added another goal just before halftime. Former Norwich City player Todd Cantwell completed the scoring with a third goal in the second half.
Brendan Rodgers’ team lost points for the first time in 2024 on the weekend. Rangers earned a well-earned three points and pulled within three points of top-ranked Celtic. It denied David Martindale’s team a shot on goal during the duration of the ninety minutes. Under the direction of Michael Beale, Philippe Clement has been given the responsibility of leading the Gers back to their previous glory after some difficult times. The 49-year-old Belgian has an 82% victory percentage and has only lost one of his 22 competitive games thus far.
James Tavernier, a 2023–24 Premiership goal scorer, and Abdullah Sima, a Brighton & Hove Albion loanee, are presently leading the Golden Boot race at Ibrox. Cyriel Dessers is the only other player who has scored more than four goals for Tuesday’s hosts. Craig Samson, the interim manager, is managing the split of the spoils with Celtic. Aberdeen is lagging behind sixth-place Dundee, who added Michael Mellon to their roster in January. Last season, Aberdeen finished high enough in the league to secure Europa Conference League competition.
Team News
Leon Balogun, the center-back was substituted for after just 22 minutes against Livingston. He may not be available for Rangers. This implies that Connor Goldson might require a new defensive core partner for the Gers. John Souttar, 27, is the most likely option. Borna Barisic and Ryan Jack should be primed to play again on Tuesday after Clement was able to take them off the field at the hour mark during Rangers’ dominating performance last time out.
The defensive duo of Stefan Gartenmann and Richard Jensen should start for Aberdeen as they are unlikely to make many changes from the lineup that held Celtic to a point the previous Saturday. If necessary, the Dons have attacking options like Duk and Leighton Clarkson, but American Dante Polvara and Killian Phillips ought to start back-to-back games.
Rangers 2-0 Aberdeen
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