Rangers play host to Dundee United on Sunday afternoon knowing that only victory will do if they want to remain in the Scottish Premiership title race.
At a time when the Glasgow giants are still celebrating reaching the Europa League final, Dundee United are looking for the win which will strengthen their hold of fourth position in the standings.
Match preview
Throughout this campaign, Rangers' priority has been to successfully defend their Scottish Premiership title, a far more realistic aim than winning the Europa League.
However, that has now changed. At a time when Rangers sit six points adrift of Celtic with three matches remaining, Giovanni van Bronckhorst's team have earned their place in the final of that European competition courtesy of yet another famous Ibrox night versus RB Leipzig.
Trailing 1-0 from the first leg in Germany, Rangers roared back to claim a 3-1 win, John Lundstram scoring the decisive goal with 10 minutes remaining to give the club a chance of lifting their first European trophy for 50 years.
While Van Bronckhorst will not want to be seen gifting the title to Celtic, a sense of perspective is required in the aftermath of the emotion-fuelled night on Thursday, and there is little value in further pushing his players further to the limit with a showdown with Eintracht Frankfurt to come on May 18.
Regardless of the team that Van Bronckhorst selects on Sunday, Rangers will remain favourites, but they arguably need somewhat of a comedown to give themselves every chance of peaking again in Seville.
From Dundee United's viewpoint, they will feel that they are travelling to Glasgow at the best possible time as they bid to end the campaign in fourth spot.
With Celtic to follow three days later, there is an acceptance that Tam Courts and his squad face an uphill battle, particularly with just two wins to their name in 10 outings.
Nevertheless, belief should have returned after the 1-0 triumph over Motherwell last weekend, Dylan Levitt netting the only goal of the game just before half time.
That clean sheet was also the first recorded since a shutout at Partick Thistle on February 12, and Courts will now hope that his players are ready to capitalise on a window of opportunity on Sunday.
- W
- W
- L
- W
- W
- D
- W
- W
- W
- L
- D
- W
- D
- W
- D
- D
- L
- W
Team News
Van Bronckhorst is expected to make numerous alterations to his Rangers XI with some regulars in line to drop down to the substitutes' bench.
Leon Balogun, after a one-match ban, James Sands, Steven Davis, Scott Arfield, Amad Diallo and Fashion Sakala are all in contention to start.
Aaron Ramsey may also be risked after returning to the squad on Thursday after a hamstring injury, but more caution will be taken on Kemar Roofe.
Barring any injury issues, Courts may see no reason to make any alterations to his Dundee United starting lineup.
Having recently lost his place in the team, wideman Ilmari Niskanen will likely have to make do with a spot on the substitutes' bench.
Rangers possible starting lineup:
McGregor; Tavernier, Sands, Balogun, Barisic; Jack, Davis; Diallo, Arfield, Sakala; Itten
Dundee United possible starting lineup:
Siegrist; Neilson, Edwards, Graham; Smith, Meekison, Mulgrew, Levitt, McMann; Watt, McNulty
We say: Rangers 2-1 Dundee United
Although Rangers are clearly the favourites for this fixture, their priorities have now changed, and that can only aid Dundee United's chances of a surprise win at Ibrox. Nevertheless, even with many changes being anticipated, we still expect the Gers to grind out a narrow victory.
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats, suggests the most likely outcome of this match is a Rangers win with a probability of 80.01%. A draw has a probability of 13.9% and a win for Dundee United has a probability of 6.13%.
The most likely scoreline is Rangers 2-0 Dundee United with a probability of 14.89% and the second most likely scoreline is Rangers 3-0 Dundee United with a probability of 12.38%.
Top tip
body check tags ::
Previews by email
