RANGERS may very well be on the brink of losing their crown of being Scottish champions by the time they welcome Dundee United to Ibrox on Sunday.
But that won't detract from what is certain to be a party atmosphere as Rangers fans celebrate their players' remarkable achievement of reaching the Europa League Final.
Giovanni van Bronckhorst's side deserves all the praise in the world for reaching the final after destroying yet another European giant who were blown away by the Ibrox atmosphere. And they managed this without Alfredo Morelos, Kemar Roofe and Aaron Ramsey.
However, if Celtic do win the league in all but name on Saturday when they play Hearts, it's hard to see why van Bronckhorst would dare take any chances on his Rangers team with an upcoming Europa League Final and Scottish Cup Final in the same week. They won't make up six points and a goal difference that would be at least 20 in two games if Celtic win.
It should mean Rangers play some of their fringe players and plenty of their youngsters on Sunday in what will be a free hit for them.
United though, certainly do have plenty to play for – they are in pole position for a European spot, sitting four points ahead of Motherwell in fourth place.
How the bookies view it
Rangers are still massive favourites at 2/11 with bet365. United can be backed at a massive 16/1 with McBookie.com. The draw is 13/2 with Betfred.
Recent head to heads
United ended Rangers' 41-game unbeaten league run at the start of the season when Steven Gerrard was still manager, before narrowly losing to them at Ibrox and getting another draw at Tannadice, so they have been tricky opponents for Rangers this season.
Here's that early season shock in Dundee.
Players to watch
Fashion Sakala was an effective sub on Thursday and will probably lead the line with Rangers well short on attacking options. He's evens with Paddy Power to net.
Tony Watt hasn't quite had the same goalscoring impact with United as he did with Motherwell, but he'd love a goal here and is 9/2 to score anytime with McBookie.com.
Anything else catch the eye?
If the teamsheets confirm that Rangers are severely weakened and with United desperate to nail down a return to Europe, the 16/1 on an away win could be very tempting. But the double chance of a draw or a United win is 4/1 with Paddy Power and that's begging to be backed.
The other obvious bet is United on the handicap and the 29/20 offered by BetVictor for a two-goal start for Tam Courts' side looks very generous.
United have scored at least once in 11 out of their last 12 games and two out of three against a full-strength Rangers.It's far from impossible they could even score a couple here and the 8/1 with bet365 for over 1.5 goals is worth a dabble.
This Scottish Premiership match between Rangers and Dundee United will be played on May 8, 2022 and kick off at 15:00. Check below for our tipsters best Rangers vs Dundee United prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
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