THE SPFL Premiership comes out of hibernation with a red-hot clash between Rangers and Hibernian as Michael Beale takes charge at Ibrox for the first time as manager.
Rangers headed into the World Cup break on a downer after a 1-1 draw at St Mirren saw them drop nine points behind Celtic in the title race. After a painful Champions League campaign that saw them rack up the worst group-stage results in history, those domestic troubles saw the axe come down on manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst.
Just months after coming within a whisker of winning the Europa League, the Dutchman found himself dumped on the scrapheap, summing up how unforgiving the environment is for bosses on either side of the Old Firm divide.
The Ibrox board turned to former first-team coach Beale to replace van Bronckhorst, with Steven Gerrard's right-hand man having made a promising start to his management career at QPR.
Beale was hailed as the brains behind Rangers' title win in season 2020/21 and fans will now be hoping he can spark a comeback in this season's championship chase.
With Celtic facing a tough trip to Pittodrie on Saturday, a win over Hibs would cut the gap to six points and put a bit of pressure on Ange Postecoglou's men.
Hibernian were in even worse form that Rangers heading into the shutdown, losing six of their last seven games to drop into the bottom half of the table.
That has raised doubts about new manager Lee Johnson but the break has given him time to drill his team on the training ground, with key players such as Kevin Nisbet, Aiden McGeady and Kyle Maggenis also returning from injury.
How the bookies view it
With Hibernian in such dismal form, it's no surprise to see Rangers as hot favourites, with the Ibrox side a best 1/3 at Coral to kick off the Beale era with a win. The Easter Road men are as big as 9/1 at Ladbrokes while the draw pays 9/2 with SkyBet.
Recent head to head
Hibs drew 2-2 with Rangers at Easter Road earlier in the season, grabbing a late leveller after the Ibrox side had been reduced to nine men. The Edinburgh club also beat Gers 3-1 in last season's League Cup semi-final but they haven't tasted victory in the last 16 league meetings. Both clashes at Ibrox last term ended in Rangers wins.
Players to watch
Bayern Munich loanee Malik Tillman scored twice for Rangers in a warm-up game against Leverkusen at the weekend and could get a new lease of life under Beale. The American kid is a worth a punt for anytime scorer at 23/10 with Paddy Power.
It's unclear who will start in attack for Hibs as Johnson has more options now and has generally chopped and changed. So the best bet for a Hibernian goal could be midfielder Josh Campbell, who scored a stunner leveller against Rangers in Leith. He has five goals for the season and is a whopping 9/1 at Bet365 for another at Ibrox.
Anything else catch the eye?
Going for goals paid off for me when these sides faced off earlier this season and we should see more action in this one. Beale has hinted Connor Goldson could return from injury but it's more likely Gers will field a makeshift defence containing James Sands, Leon King and Adam Devine. That makes me think BTTS stands a chance at evens with William Hill while over 3.5 goals is priced 3/2 at Highbet.
This fixture is usually fiery, with six yellows and two reds flashed when they last faced off so the card markets are worth a look. McBookie price over 4.5 cards at 10/11..
Beale will send his side out on the front foot so corners are also a good option, with Rangers -3 in the corner handicap paying a tempting evens at Bet365. I also like the 20/21 on offer at McBookie for the Ibrox side to score in both halves.
With Hibs in such poor form before the break and the home team likely to get a bounce from their new manager, Rangers -1 in the match handicap also looks good at 10/11 with McBookie.
This Scottish Premiership match between Rangers and Hibernian will be played on Dec 15, 2022 and kick off at 20:00. 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.
