Rangers will kick off at Ibrox for the first time this season when they take on St. Mirren on Sunday and they will look to build on an impressive win away to Aberdeen and pile early pressure on rivals Celtic.
Steven Gerrard’s men can ill-afford any early slip-ups lest they want to hand Celtic the initiative to go on and claim a record tenth league title in a row, so they should be up for this on Sunday.
St. Mirren, their opponents on Sunday, should also be buoyant after an impressive one-goal win over Livingston on the opening day of the season and will head to Ibrox with plenty of confidence.
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St. Mirren (+2)
Rangers have played twice since St. Mirren last played, crashing out of the Europa League on Thursday night, and may find the going tougher than they normally would against St. Mirren at home.
Their Europa League exit probably won’t come as much of a shock given that they went to Leverkusen chasing a two-goal lead, but Rangers should still feel the effects of playing twice in a week, especially since they haven’t played competitively for five months. Rangers should win on Sunday, but it might be closer than they would like so St Mirren (+2).
Ryan Kent to score anytime
Rangers’ talisman Alfredo Morelos looks almost certain to leave the club in the coming weeks with Steven Gerrard admitting that he was resigned to losing his star man on Thursday night. Morelos’ impending move appears to be impacting his form and both Gerrard and Jermain Defoe have had to publicly defend the striker and insist that the transfer has not had an impact on his focus.
With that in mind, Morelos is somewhat unreliable when it comes to picking a potential goalscorer on Sunday, especially at almost 1/2.
Meanwhile, new signing Kemar Roofe, arguably brought in to replace Morelos, has yet to feature for Rangers and may not start on Sunday. Again, Roofe’s price is unattractive at almost 1/2. That leaves Ryan Kent, who found the back of the net at Aberdeen last week, as the most appealing option to find the net this week.
Kent scored seven times in the league for Rangers last season and will be looking to build on that in the next nine months. What better way to start than by scoring in the opening two games?
Under 2.5 goals
Rangers had the joint-meanest defence in the Scottish Premiership last season, while St. Mirren had the worst scoring record, which would appear to point to a shut out for Rangers on Sunday. The looked similarly resolute against Aberdeen last time out, restricting the hosts to very few clear-cut chances and St. Mirren may find it even harder to break them down at Ibrox.
On the other hand, however, Rangers are coming into this game off a three-day turnaround and may be a little leggy. The issues surrounding Morelos’ departure may also hamper their attacking fluidity, while Roofe is no guarantee to settle.
This could be a low-scoring affair on Sunday afternoon so we’re backing Under 2.5 goals.
*These selections come in at just under 27/1 in a Same Game Multi with Paddy Power.*
Tips for Rangers v St Mirren on Sunday
St. Mirren (+2)
Ryan Kent to score
Under 2.5 goals
*All odds correct at time of publication and they’re always spot on in out snazzy widgets*
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