RANGERS will begin their journey to try and reclaim the Scottish Premiership title when they pay Kilmarnock a visit on Saturday evening.
The Light Blues failed to kick on after their 55th tile triumph two years ago, with the Glasgow giants ending last season trophyless after falling short against fierce foes Celtic in each of the three domestic competitions.
The Ibrox side are now gearing up for their first full campaign under Michael Beale's management as they set out to wrestle the title back from their Old Firm rivals.
Gers boss Beale is in the midst of overseeing a major summer rebuild in a quest to restore former glories and he will be hoping his new signings can make an instant impact in his side's curtain-raiser at Kilmarnock.
Having achieved their target of Scottish Premiership survival with a tenth-placed finish last term, Derek McInnes has set his sights on achieving a top-six finish this time around.
Killie will head into the new league campaign in good spirits having topped their Scottish League Cup group, with last week's win at Albion Rovers bringing up my main bet in Coatbridge.
Outright Betting
Kilmarnock, who avoided defeat in 14 of their 19 Scottish Premiership home matches last season, enter this tea-time tussle as 6/1 (Ladbrokes) underdogs while the draw is an unfancied 17/4 (Bet 365).
Rangers triumphed in each of the three meetings between the pair last season and the visitors are short priced 2/5 (Bet 365) favourites to hit the ground running at Rugby Park.
Betting Angles
Backing what is a new-look Rangers side at the above-mentioned price makes little appeal so I'll instead side with the 4/5 (PaddyPower) on Rangers to Score 1+ Goals; Rangers 5+ Corners & Kilmarnock 2+ Cards.
Rangers scored at least once in 36 of their 38 Scottish Premiership games last season and that coupled with their summer reinforcements in forward areas should see them strike at least once here.
While Kilmarnock tend to be a tough nut to crack on home turf, they did concede twice when Raith Rovers recently visited Rugby Park before having their backline breached by Lowland League new boys Albion Rovers.
As such, I'm happy to back Rangers to grab at least one goal here, but to boost the price, I'll also back the visitors to earn a minimum of five corners.
Michael Beale's men averaged a sizeable 7.08 flag kicks per 90 minutes last season, and five corner kicks here doesn't look out of reach given that the Light Blues may find it difficult to break down their opponents.
Given that Rangers are likely to dictate the tempo of the game, as well as the fact that they were drawing 2.4 cards per-game form their opponents last season, I'll conclude the selection with at least two Kilmarnock cards.
It's also worth pointing out that this 4/5 (PaddyPower) shot would have paid in two of the three meetings between the pair last season and that only adds to the appeal of supporting the same wager in Ayrshire this weekend.
Elsewhere, I'll also dip into the To Score or Assist market where James Tavernier looks enticing at even-money with William Hill.
The Gers skipper finished last season as the club's leading marksman and he looks nicely priced to have goal involvement here given that he will be on penalty kick and set piece duty.
This Scottish Premiership match between Kilmarnock and Rangers will be played on Aug 5, 2023 and kick off at 17:15. Check below for our tipsters best Kilmarnock vs Rangers prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
