Rangers are set to take on Motherwell at Ibrox Stadium on Saturday in the second matchday of the 2024-25 Scottish Premiership campaign, both aiming to build early season momentum.
The hosts are eighth in the league after recording a draw on the opening day, while the visitors are also on one point and sit in seventh place.
Match preview
Since winning their first league title in 10 years with an unbeaten season in 2020-21, Rangers have frustratingly finished behind their bitter rivals Celtic in all of the following three seasons.
Hopes were high for Rangers going into the final stages of 2023-24 with Philippe Clement, who took over in October 2023, guiding the side to just two losses in his first 22 league matches in charge.
However, the Gers failed to win any of their final three games, allowing Celtic to overtake them and secure the top spot by the end of the regular season with a three-point lead.
Rangers fell further behind in the championship round, ending the season eight points behind Celtic with an overall points tally of 85, the lowest tally they have achieved since pre-covid.
Their poor form continued following the end of the league, losing 1-0 to Celtic in the Scottish Cup final before failing to win any of their pre-season fixtures, losing three and drawing one, and drawing in both of their competitive games to start the current campaign.
That streak leaves Rangers without a victory in eight games across all competitions, something that Clement will be desperate to put an end to in their first home game of the 2024-25 Scottish Premiership.
Motherwell are also in search of their first win in the Scottish Premiership this year after they drew their opening fixture against Ross County last weekend.
Stuart Kettlewell, who has been in charge since February 2023, will be aiming for a much-improved performance this year with the Steelman experiencing a slide down the standings in recent seasons.
Since finishing fifth in 2021-22 with 46 points, Motherwell have gone on to place seventh in 2022-23, albeit with a higher points tally of 50, and ninth last term with 43 points.
Kettlewell's side have already shown signs of improvement since the conclusion of the last campaign, going unbeaten in normal time in all of their last eight matches across friendly and competitive competitions.
Motherwell have historically struggled in this fixture, winning just one of the past 21 meetings between the two sides, though that victory did come at the Ibrox Stadium in their most recent encounter.
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Team News
The hosts will be without Nicolas Raskin for this match after he suffered an ankle injury in a pre-season friendly defeat to Ajax in July, and the midfielder is not expected to return until September.
Oscar Cortes is also a doubt after the Lens loanee was forced off just after half time in their 0-0 draw with Hearts of Midlothian last weekend, leaving Rabbi Matondo or Vaclav Cerny as the most likely replacements.
Motherwell could be without up to five players for this match with Callum Slattery, Johnny Koutroumbis, Harry Paton, Sam Nicholson and Shane Blaney all suffering injuries in recent weeks.
Last year's top scorer Thelonius Bair left the club over the summer, leaving Kettlewell likely to rely on Zach Robinson and Moses Ebiye as his front two this season.
Rangers possible starting lineup:
Butland; Tavernier, Souttar, Davies, Yilmaz; Diomande, Barron; Wright, Lawrence, Matondo; Dessers
Motherwell possible starting lineup:
Oxborough; Casey, Gordon, McGinn; O'Donnell, Zdravkovski, Halliday, Wilson; Miller; Robinson, Ebiye
We say: Rangers 2-0 Motherwell
Rangers are coming into this game without a victory in their last eight, but with the backing of their home crowd and facing a Motherwell side that have failed to score in their last two outings, we believe the hosts will win here.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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