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Scottish Premiership | Gameweek 5

Aug 22, 2020 at 3pm UK

Ibrox Stadium

Rangers
2 - 0
Kilmarnock

Roofe (50'), Kent (77')
Itten (32')

FT(HT: 0-0)

Tshibola (55')

Preview: Rangers vs. Kilmarnock - prediction, team news, lineups

By Darren Plant, Senior Reporter | 20 August 2020

Sports Mole previews Saturday's Scottish Premiership fixture between Rangers and Kilmarnock, including team news and predicted lineups.

Rangers play host to Kilmarnock on Saturday afternoon looking to extend their unbeaten record in the Scottish Premiership to five matches.

Despite an earlier draw with champions Celtic, the visitors to Ibrox head into the contest still searching for their first victory of the season.

Match preview

Rangers manager Steven Gerrard pictured on August 9, 2020 © Reuters

On the back of a three-match winning streak without conceding a goal, Steven Gerrard would have expected his Rangers team to extend that run further against lowly Livingston last weekend.

However, the Glasgow giants produced their worst performance of the season in the final third, rarely threatening opposition who had previously conceded seven goals from three matches.

The share of the spoils means that each of the division's 12 sides have now dropped points in their opening four matches, something which will only add to Gerrard's frustration as he bids to keep the Gers at the top of the standings.

While a home encounter against a misfiring Kilmarnock side is arguably the ideal fixture after the recent disappointment, Gerrard needs more from his attacking players over the coming weeks.

Although Alfredo Morelos finds himself in the headlines on a regular basis, fellow attacker Ianis Hagi is yet to contribute a goal or assist this season.

Despite having held Celtic to a goalless draw earlier this month, Kilmarnock boss Alex Gray will be unhappy with his team's form since the start of the month.

That feeling would have been different had his side, reduced to 10 men, not conceded two late goals to suffer a 2-1 defeat at home to St Johnstone in their most recent fixture.

A trip to Rangers would be at the bottom of Gray's most desired games at this stage, but Kilmarnock should not be overawed after the resilience that they displayed against the champions.

Gray will want more help for veteran Chris Burke, who has netted three of the club's five goals during the early weeks of the campaign.

Rangers Scottish Premiership form: WWWD
Rangers form (all competitions): WLWWD

Kilmarnock Scottish Premiership form: LDDL

Team News

Rangers midfielder Ianis Hagi pictured in February 2020 © Reuters

Gerrard could drop Hagi from his first XI, instead deciding to hand a first Rangers start to Kemar Roofe.

Providing that he has recovered from an ankle injury, Joe Aribo could take the spot of Scott Arfield in midfield.

Having suffered a quad injury just over a week ago, Leon Balogun is unlikely to be risked in this contest.

Kilmarnock will be without Ross Millen after his red card against St Johnstone last weekend.

That will likely result in Aaron McGowan being provided with his first start of the season at right-back.

Rangers possible starting lineup:
McLaughlin; Tavernier, Goldson, Helander, Barisic; Kamara, Jack, Arfield; Roofe, Morelos, Kent

Kilmarnock possible starting lineup:
Rogers; McGowan, Broadfoot, Findlay, Waters; Power, Dicker, Tshibola; Burke, Kabamba, Pinnock

SM words green background

We say: Rangers 3-0 Kilmarnock

While Kilmarnock will be looking to get back on track as soon as possible, everything points to this game being one-way traffic. Rangers will be desperate to bounce back from the disappointment of last weekend, and we expect Gerrard's side to canter to the three points.

Top betting tip

Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting over 2.5 goals in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.

Data Analysis

Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Rangers win with a probability of 79.05%. A draw had a probability of 14.7% and a win for Kilmarnock had a probability of 6.25%.

The most likely scoreline for a Rangers win was 2-0 with a probability of 15.67%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-0 (13.17%) and 3-0 (12.43%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (6.78%), while for a Kilmarnock win it was 0-1 (2.85%). The actual scoreline of 2-0 was predicted with a 15.7% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted a 2-0 win for Rangers in this match.