match thread (image) [FT] Rangers 3 (McCarthy og 24; Morelos 69, 74) - 0 St Mirren

[Frankie 8,570]

@JFK-1 previews the first home match of the new season!

 

The first home game of the season and the first competitive game at Ibrox since covid-19 changed the face of football brings St Mirren to the home of Rangers. League wise the Buddies come off the back of a good start after their 1-0 home victory against Livingston while Rangers also recorded a 1-0 win away to the plague infested sheep of the North.

Regardless of the Rangers starting 11 both sides are going to be facing a sharp contrast in terms of the class of opposition in comparison to their most recent games. With all due respect to St Mirren they're no Leverkusen and St Mirren for their part will be well aware that Rangers are no Livi and not in a comforting sense. For this reason I would be more than surprised if St Mirren set up with anything other than a highly defensive formation we are all well accustomed to seeing visiting teams employ at Ibrox.

This game introduces some unknowns into the equation for Rangers in the shape of two new strikers and debate around which or either of them may play whether be it a start or a substitution appearance. While defensively It's been many a year since I felt so confident in the Rangers defence and especially so in terms of the wealth of CB's we now have at the club.

 

Such an over abundance of riches even with Nikola Katic out injured potentially for up to 6 months I have no great worries about whatever CB pairing Steven Gerrard may opt for. Connor Goldson is a stick on with a number of reliable alternatives available to play alongside him. I'm expecting to see Goldson and possibly Balogun after a sterling debut performance last week with Tavernier and Barisic either side of them.

Beyond the defence there are also top quality options in the shape of Aribo, Kent, and Hagi etc but in the middle of the formation there are also a variety of alternatives which make it something of a guessing game regarding the starting line up.

 

Then when looking at striker options there's the question of will one of our new strikers play? Will Morelos start? If one of the newbies take a spot either from the start or a substitute I expect it be Itten since I have doubts about the availability of Roofe fitness wise.

If we go with the usual one striker a part of me wants it to be Alfie since there's always the chance this may be the last time we see him in a Rangers jersey and it would be a fitting farewell if he could play and bag one or two. On the other hand Alfie hasn't been quite himself of late turning in relatively lacklustre performances and showing little in the way of a threat.

None of us are going to forget the contribution of Alfie during his time at Rangers. He was key in our Euro qualification run and our qualification for the knockout stages and a lot more besides. All of us will wish him well in the next stage of his career.
 

But if he's likely to be leaving in the next week or do might it not be best to try to fit in say Itten for a start to get him bedded in as quickly as possible before tougher ties than St Mirren at Ibrox appear on the horizon? Obviously the manager will decide what's best for the team on the day.

On paper no matter who plays this should be a comfortable standard home win for Rangers with at least a couple of goals in the St Mirren net by the end of it. While i'm often reluctant to be too over confident my expectation is that this will indeed be the case and i'm feeling at least 3 goals may be on the cards for Rangers with hopefully 0 in reply.

We all know how absolutely vital every point is this season and maybe especially so home points. Despite it being early there is no wiggle room given that there's always the possibility we may again face a  curtailed league. This is just another of many must win games to come. Go Rangers, 3-0 and hopefully 5 or even more to match the yahoo tally of last week. We need to get that GD difference down.

 

Possible team (4-3-3)

 

 

 

[DMAA 3,658]

That looks the most likely lineup to me, except Jack? Is he out? 
 

I would like to see Patterson get a start but Gerrard isn’t going to drop Tavernier. 

[CammyF 8,116]

Would say that's close to what the starting 11 will be, but as DMAA says, Jack may feature if he is fit and available.

 

Can't see Helander playing 2 games in 3 days so Edmunson but most likely Balogun will take his place.

 

Excited to see Itten and hopefully we'll get a cameo from Roofe as well.

 

Just a side note, our club flag proudly on display at Ibrox for Sunday's game 

[Frankie 8,570]

31 minutes ago, DMAA said:

That looks the most likely lineup to me, except Jack? Is he out? 
 

I would like to see Patterson get a start but Gerrard isn’t going to drop Tavernier. 

Not expecting the manager to play Jack and Kamara in too many games this season, especially at home, so after two tough 90mins for Jack, I'd expect Kamara to start on Sunday.

[Malangsob 1,264]

Rangers need to come out and whip the piss out of em. This needs to be a statement game.

[JFK-1 1,693]

I'm expecting St Mirren to be totally swamped by wave after wave of attacks. And may presumably resort to the standard kick, foul, stop them playing strategy. In their game with Livi last week there were a total of 32 fouls and 5 yellow cards between them.

[compo 7,048]

It's about time they got on their shooting boots instead of fannying around trying to play the ball into the goal .

[Gonzo79 15,294]

I expect we'll get a goal either half and both teams will be happy with it sitting at 2-0.  A dull fixture.

[JFK-1 1,693]

2 hours ago, compo said:

It's about time they got on their shooting boots instead of fannying around trying to play the ball into the goal .

This is perhaps one of the best chances to reduce that GD advantage they have already accumulated.

[Frankie 8,570]

Thanks to @JFK-1 for another excellent preview in time for tomorrow's game...