RANGERS roared back to life by battering Hearts at Ibrox on Sunday and will be looking for a repeat against the green half of Edinburgh when Hibernian come calling.
Questions were being asked of Giovanni van Bronckhorst for the first time after a 3-3 draw at Ross County and 3-0 derby loss to Celtic saw the SPFL Premiership champions surrender top spot.
The Hoops piled on the pressure at Sunday lunchtime by crushing Motherwell to go four points clear but Rangers responded in style by beating third-placed Hearts 5-0.
The return of Alfredo Morelos from international duty was pivotal to that victory as the Colombian netted the first two goals and van Bronckhorst was also able to give Aaron Ramsey a debut off the bench.
Both players give Rangers a serious injection of quality and they should be too strong for a Hibs side who have been in dismal form since returning from the winter break.
I tipped St Mirren to take at least a point at Easter Road on Saturday and the Buddies ended up with all three as they claimed a 1-0 win.
That made it five league games without a win for the Hibees and Maloney's side have a drawn a blank in four of those games.
Martin Boyle memorably scored a hat-trick when Hibernian beat Rangers in the League Cup semi-final but his move to Saudi Arabia has left new gaffer Maloney short of firepower.
If this poor run goes on then fans will start to seriously question if Maloney is the right man to take Hibs forward so he desperately needs a result at Ibrox.
How the bookies view it
Rangers are heavy favourites at a best 1/3 with Betway while Hibernian are as big as 21/2 with SBK. The stalemate pays 9/2 with the same firm.
Recent head to head
Hibs turned in their best display of the season to win 3-1 at Hampden in the League Cup when they last faced Rangers in Glasgow. But the Ibrox men have won the last five league meetings since a 2-2 draw at Easter Road in September 2020.
It ended 1-0 to Rangers in Leith when these sides last faced off and the champions won 2-1 at Ibrox earlier this season (below) after Hibernian had been reduced to 10 men.
Players to watch
It's hard to look past Morelos for a Rangers goal after his display at the weekend. The striker also loves to face Hibs, having netted eight times against them in his Ibrox career. He's 23/20 with Unibet for anytime scorer.
Positives have been thin on the ground for Hibs in recent weeks but Chris Cadden's displays on the right flank have impressed me. Celtic got a lot of joy down the Rangers left at Parkhead and Cadden is 11/1 at Unibet for an Ibrox goal.
Anything else catch the eye?
It's not in Maloney's style to park the bus so this should be an open game. Over 2.5 match goals is just 8/11 at SBK but over 1.5 first-half strikes is much better at 13/8 with Paddy Power.
This fixture is usually pretty fiery with Ryan Porteous at the centre of most of the aggro. The Hibs stopper is always good value for a card against Rangers and was sent off on his last visit to Ibrox. The bookies haven't priced up card markets yet but I'll keep my eyes peeled.
This Scottish Premiership match between Rangers and Hibernian will be played on Feb 9, 2022 and kick off at 19:45. Check below for our tipsters best Rangers vs Hibernian prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
