Rangers will look to bounce back from their embarrassing European exit on Thursday night as they travel to Pittodrie to take on Aberdeen in the Scottish Premiership on Sunday lunchtime.
Rangers’ European campaign is already over as they were knocked out by Czech side Jablonec on penalties in their Conference League playoff tie.
Derek McInnes’s men won the first leg at Ibrox by a goal to nil, but lost by the same scoreline in the second leg – on an evening both of my selections landed – before bowing out on spot kicks.
The Teddy Bears travel to Pittodrie already five points off the pace after picking up a solitary point from their opening two league outings (W0-D1-L1), and can ill afford to drop more points at this stage.
Aberdeen began their Premiership campaign with a dramatic 2-1 victory at home to Hearts –on an evening both of my selections landed – before losing 2-0 at Dens Park against Dundee.
However, Stephen Robinson’s hosts got their revenge on the Dark Blues a week later, as they knocked them out of the League Cup thanks to an emphatic 3-0 victory on home soil.
How the bookies view it: Value in the Dons
Despite winning just twice in all competitions this season, Rangers travel to Pittodrie as favourites, with bet365 pricing an away success at 3/4.
Aberdeen look good value at 7/2 to claim all three points, whilst the draw also has a decent chance at 14/5.
Head to head: Rangers struggles at Pittodrie
Whilst Rangers generally dominate Aberdeen at Ibrox and at Hampden, they do tend to struggle when travelling to Pittodrie, with the Dons unbeaten in four of their last five meetings with Rangers in front of their supporters (W2-D2-L1).
Players to watch: Nisbet to nick another
Kevin Nisbet has already made a flying start to the campaign, scoring six times in the group stages of the Scottish League Cup.
The ex-Hibs frontman has also scored in back-to-back matches at Pittodrie since then – including a brace against Dundee in the cup last weekend – and is an appealing 11/5 at bet365 to get on the scoresheet once again on Sunday.
Backed a player to find the net? Check our Goalscorer Betting guide to see how the markets work and where to find value.
Predicted line-ups:
Aberdeen will be without the injured Brad Lyons, Emmanuel Gyamfi and Kristers Tobers.
Rangers will be missing the injured Tuur Rommens and Youssef Chermiti, whilst Nico Raskin is likely to be unavailable due to a potential exit from Govan.
Aberdeen: Muller, Cadden, Happe, Mayo, Guinness-Walker, Ronan, Afeez, Yogane, Mbala, Olusanya, Nisbet
Rangers: Pandur, Sterling, Fernandez, Makhanya, Penrice, Dragojevic, Devlin, Yokota, Gassama, Shankland, Naderi
Anything else catch the eye?
Derek McInnes is a man already under pressure following their European exit on Thursday night, and there’s no way you can have any confidence in them securing all three points on Sunday.
The Gers were absolutely terrible in Czechia on Thursday night and remain winless in the Premiership this season, so I’m keen to oppose them against an Aberdeen side that do tends to raise their game against Rangers, particularly at Pittodrie.
The Dons are strong at home, meaning I’m happy to back them in the Double Chance market, which pays an appealing 1/1 at bet365.
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