It is a battle at the top of the Scottish Premiership this weekend as second meets third when Rangers welcome St Mirren to Ibrox Stadium in an important fixture for both.

Both clubs are trailing Celtic and can ill-afford to drop points in their quest to keep the fight for the title alive.

Match preview

Rangers have been on a strong run of form as of late in all competitions, putting together a 10-match undefeated streak as they head into this weekend.

That period kick-started the last time the Gers met St Mirren, where the club came out on top with a dominant 3-0 victory, which is a result fans would be happy to see again on Sunday.

That is especially the case since Philippe Clement's men have drawn their past two fixtures, with the most recent taking place in a midweek Europa League clash against Aris Limassol.

Ross McCausland scored his first goal for the club from the bench to secure a 1-1 result on Thursday night, and he will be hoping to follow that up with another positive performance on Sunday.

With a six-point gap between these two teams in the table at the moment, Rangers could create some breathing room for themselves with a victory here, all while maintaining the pressure on their Old Firm rivals above them.

For St Mirren, this fixture could work as the perfect one to get their season back on track after a difficult period of inconsistency.

The Buddies have dramatically dropped off the pace in the title hunt, and with just two victories in their previous six outings and three consecutive defeats heading into this fixture.

A concerning issue for St Mirren has been the lack of goals that they have managed, with the Buddies not finding the back of the net in any of their last three matches.

Considering Rangers boast the best defensive record in the league at the moment, that is a situation that could be difficult to overhaul in this particular fixture.

While Steve Robinson will be looking at closing the gap towards the Gers, he will also be wary of the fact a defeat could see his team drop down to fourth if Hearts win this weekend, with the chasing pack starting to close on them.

Team News

McCausland will be hoping his impressive performance from the bench in the midweek Europa League fixture will be enough to earn him a place in the starting lineup this weekend, giving Clement something to think about.

However, Rangers are missing Nicolas Raskin at the moment due to injury, although John Souttar did return in the Europa League, providing a boost to the defensive options.

Richard Taylor missed out last weekend for St Mirren because of an ankle injury he picked up in the previous game, and it is unlikely he will feature on Sunday because of that.

Jonah Ayunga's minutes are currently being managed following his own return to fitness, therefore he will more than likely be used as a substitute in this one.

Rangers possible starting lineup:
Butland; Tavernier, Goldson, Balogun, Barisic; Lundstram, Cifuentes; McCausland, Lawrence, Sima; Danilo

St Mirren possible starting lineup:
Hemming; Fraser, Gogic, Dunne; Tanser, Baccus, O'Hara, Tanser; McMenamin, Mandron, Kiltie

We say: Rangers 2-0 St Mirren

These two teams are in completely contrasting form at the moment, and that is something that should lead to Rangers securing a comfortable victory.

The lack of goals that St Mirren are scoring as of late combined with the impressive defensive structure of the Gers should produce a positive result for Clement.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

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