Prediction: Rangers vs Kilmarnock

Prediction: Rangers win

Best Odds: 1/6

Bookmaker: 888sport

The domestic football season across all of the top European leagues will begin in the next few weeks, but for Scottish football, the Premiership has already been underway for a couple of matchdays now. While there have been a few setbacks with both Celtic and Aberdeen, the rest of the top flight has been able to carry on with their campaign as usual. Today, we’re going to take a look at what should prove to be fascinating encounter between Rangers and Kilmarnock.

Rangers

Normal service resumed for Rangers when they played Aberdeen at the start of August, and after a 1-0 win, they had confidence heading into their tie against Bayer Leverkusen in the Europa League. Unfortunately, a 1-0 loss ensured that their aggregate defeat was confirmed, but they didn’t dwell on it for too long. They proceeded to register back to back 3-0 wins over St Mirren and St Johnstone before picking up a dull 0-0 draw against Livingston in their last outing.

Team News

There are two confirmed injury absences for Rangers with Katic and Defoe both being ruled out. Elsewhere, Aribo, McGregor and Balogun are all considered doubts, with Arfield being tipped to feature if they can’t make it back in time for the game.

Kilmarnock

A 2-1 defeat to Hibernian served as the start of Kilmarnock’s bad run of form, and while they did secure draws against champions Celtic and Ross County, they couldn’t keep that momentum going as they fell to a 2-1 loss against St Johnstone. It’s been a long time since they tasted victory in any kind of way, and when you consider how unpredictable the Scottish Premiership is, they’ll need to pull their finger out sooner rather than later.

Team News

Eastwood has been ruled out for three months which will allow Colin Doyle to come in and feature as the loan replacement. The only other confirmed absence will be Millen who is out through suspension, but elsewhere, Alex Dyer isn’t expected to make too many changes as they attempt to pick up their first win of the new league season.

Factors to Consider

• In their last meeting back in February, Kilmarnock beat Rangers 2-1.
• Rangers have won three, drawn one and lost two of their last six games.
• Kilmarnock have drawn three and lost three of their last six games.
• Rangers have scored eight goals and conceded four in their last six games.
• Kilmarnock have scored seven goals and conceded 10 in their last six games.

Conclusion

Kilmarnock are able to throw everything against the wall and sometimes come out with a result, but we don’t think that’ll happen this time around. These two clubs are trending in very different directions, and Rangers are the kind of side that are capable of edging out a win even if they aren’t at their best. We think that’s exactly what’s going to happen, with Rangers pinching all three points late in the game to maintain their spot at the top of the table.

Prediction: Rangers win

Best Odds: 1/6

Bookmaker: 888sport