RANGERS take a trip to one of their least favourite venues on Saturday when they face Livingston at their Tony Macaroni Arena.
The Ibrox side have made no secret throughout the years of their dislike of the artificial surface and they are certainly not alone in that.
But it usually makes for one of the rare tricky venues for both halves of the Old Firm with Livi relishing a tear-up.
Rangers remain unbeaten under Michael Beale although they were given a real fright by a spirited Partick Thistle side in the Scottish Cup last week before coming through 3-2, with plenty of well-reported drama in there too.
But Livingston – who had been going great guns under David Martindale – were on the wrong end of a real shocker in the competition when they crashed to a 3-0 home defeat to Caley Thistle.
It's difficult enough for most teams to get a point in West Lothian, so that was a real coupon buster. But it's worth pointing out that was their only defeat in their home ground since October, apart from a loss to Celtic.
And Rangers well be well aware that Martindale will expect a reaction from his side on Saturday.
How the bookies view it
Rangers are around the 1/3 mark, although there is some 2/5 available with bet365, which will be the bankers on plenty of punters' coupons.
Livingston can be backed at 8/1 with William Hill and the draw is 4/1 with McBookie.com.
Recent head to heads
Rangers were held to a 1-1 draw at Ibrox in October and edged out their hosts in a 2-1 win back in August with two close-fought games this season.
Players to watch
Livingston have giant striker Joel Nouble back. The lanky forward's unorthodox style is a real handful for defenders and he can be a very potent weapon on his day. He is a big price at 9/2 to score anytime with Paddy Power.
All eyes will be on Malik Tillman following his goal last week, which sparked controversy and led to Rangers gifting Thistle a goal after a sportsmanship row, The on-loan Bayern Munich man is in fine form and can be backed at 11/5 to score with Betfair.
Anything else catch the eye?
This could be a real struggle for Rangers here, but they should have enough quality in the squad to get the points. It won't be a classic, but they have enough depth, maybe even from the bench, to get the job done by a goal – as has been the case in two of the last three meetings between the sides – and the 3/1 their winning margin of just that with bet365 looks backable.
Rangers are nearly always good for corners when dominating games, which they nearly always are. Livingston have twice failed to win a corner against Celtic, won one at home to Hearts and have won just one in two games home and away against Rangers.
That would suggest a strong wager on Rangers -3 on the corners handicap with bet365 at 10/11.
This Scottish Premiership match between Livingston and Rangers will be played on Feb 18, 2023 and kick off at 15:00. Check below for our tipsters best Livingston vs Rangers prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
