Preview: Rangers vs. Ross County – prediction, team news, lineups

On Saturday afternoon, Rangers will play Ross County at Hampden Park. The visitors are still

looking for their first victory of the 2024–25 Scottish Premiership campaign.

With one win and one draw from their first games, the hosts are in fourth place in the standings,

while the visitors are in eighth place with two points from their first two draws of the season.

Match preview

Rangers eventually won their record-breaking 55th top-division trophy in 2020–21, sealing a

spectacular 102-point undefeated season and finishing 25 points clear of second-placed Celtic after

nine years without a Scottish Premiership title.

The Gers have not been able to duplicate that kind of success in the ensuing seasons, placing second

in all three and slipping further behind champions Celtic each time.

Rangers will be focused on winning another league title going into the 2024–25 campaign. They

want to stop their bitter rivals Celtic from winning the Scottish Premiership trophy four times in a

row and tying their record for the most top-division crowns.

They only managed a draw against Union Berlin and three losses in four preseason games, thus

their preparations for this term were far from ideal.

In addition to losing their first game against Hearts, where their opponents were more dangerous

all game, Philippe Clement’s team was eliminated from the Champions League qualifiers for the

second year in a row following a humiliating 3-1 aggregate loss to Dynamo Kyiv in the third round.

In their second league game of the season, the Gers defeated Motherwell 2-0 to secure their first

victory of the year. Ahead of this encounter, they had defeated St Johnstone 2-0 in the Scottish

League Cup second round.

With Ross County, a team they had only lost to once in the previous 22 games (that loss came in

their most recent meeting, 3-2), Clement will be hoping to build on that triumph with another strong showing.

The Staggies enter the game as well, having had a mixed start to their 2024–25 campaign. They won their first four Scottish League Cup games before losing their next three.

Team News

While they continue to heal from various injuries, Ridvan Yilmaz, Oscar Cortes, and Nicolas Raskin

are scheduled to miss this game for the hosts; however, all three should be back early next month.

Ben Davies is expected to play alongside John Souttar, but Robin Propper is also doubtful after being substituted in the 45th minute of their 2-0 Scottish League Cup triumph over St Johnstone.

Max Sheaf, who last played for the team against the Rangers in April, and Ricki Lamie, who hasn’t played since August, won’t be available for Cowie to use.

Since joining the team from Cliftonville FC, Hale has scored four goals in five games. The forward is anticipated to start at the front of the line with Jordan White in this situation.

Rangers Potential starting lineup:
Butland; Tavernier, Souttar, Davies, Sterling; Diomande, Barron; Cerny, Dowell, Matondo; Dessers

Ross County Potential starting lineup:
Laidlaw; Efete, Wright, Nightingale, Harmon; Denholm, Randall, Allardice, Grieves; White, Hale

Prediction

Rangers 3-1 Ross County

Rangers should win this game because, despite their inconsistent start to the season, Ross County has not looked well in their first few games. The home team has superior talent across the board.

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