Managerless Rangers will be hoping to avoid a third-successive defeat across all competitions when they head to The SMISA Stadium to take on high-flying St Mirren in the Scottish Premiership on Sunday.
It has been a difficult start to the season for the Gers, who parted company with head coach Michael Beale following last weekend’s home defeat to Aberdeen.
Steven Davis has taken temporary charge whilst Beale’s successor is found, but he lost his first game in the dugout – a 2-1 defeat to Aris Limassol in the Europa League during the week – and he will now be demanding a response from his side in Paisley.
That may be easier said than done, as St Mirren will head into the contest sitting above Rangers in the standings and as the nearest challengers to leaders Celtic following an unbeaten start to their Premiership campaign.
St Mirren are priced at 5/1 to pick up all three points from Sunday’s match, while Rangers are 4/9 to make an overdue return to winning ways, with the draw available at 10/3.
Punters may also be interested in the first goalscorer market where Rangers forward Cyriel Dessers leads the way at 9/2, while Lewis Jamieson is St Mirren’s most likely candidate to break the deadlock at 10/1.
Team news
St Mirren manager Stephen Robinson has reported no fresh injury concerns and he may be reluctant to tinker with a team that has been getting results, meaning both Alex Greive and Thierry Small may again have to make do with places on the bench.
Rangers will be without the suspended Scott Wright following his sending off in the defeat to Aberdeen, while Kieran Dowell, Todd Cantwell, Tom Lawrence, Rabbi Matondo and Danilo all remain on the treatment table.
Double Chance – St Mirren or Draw @ 8/5
Not many people would have expected St Mirren to be sitting above Rangers in the standings after seven rounds of matches, but that is exactly where the Buddies find themselves after an unbeaten start that has seen them register four wins and three draws.
Another victory on Sunday would see Robinson’s side move six points clear of their opponents and this could prove to be a good time to be facing the managerless Gers given their poor run of form.
As well as losing to Aberdeen and Aris over the last week, Rangers have also been beaten this season by Celtic, PSV Eindhoven and, perhaps most relevantly heading into this game, away at Kilmarnock.
This will still be a tough task for St Mirren, as they have not won any of their last nine meetings with Rangers, but the two teams did play out a 1-1 draw at The SMISA Stadium last November and the hosts could be worth backing at 8/5 in the Double Chance market.
Under 2.5 goals @ 5/4
Despite their strong start to the season, St Mirren aren’t a team that find the back of the net on a regular basis, with each of their last four league matches yielding under 2.5 goals, while likely substitute Greive is the only member of the squad to have scored more than one league goal this term.
The goals have not exactly been flowing for Rangers either, as they have failed to score more than once in four of their seven Premiership matches to date, drawing blanks in defeats to Celtic and Kilmarnock.
This could prove to be a cagey contest of fine margins and under 2.5 goals in the match looks a likely outcome.
