Rangers will look to put a halt to their losing run at Ibrox as they welcome in-form Hibs to Ibrox on Saturday afternoon in what promises to be a high-scoring clash.
After knocking Fenerbahce out of the last-16 of the Europa League and winning at bitter-rivals Celtic, Rangers returned from the international break with a trip to Dens Park and were involved in another thrilling encounter.
Dundee scored inside the opening two minutes and led 2-0 after 20 minutes, with The Dark Blues regaining their two-goal advantage just past the hour mark, but three goals inside the final 20 minutes saw Rangers seal a dramatic comeback victory on a night where both of my selections landed.
Whilst that’s now six successive victories away from home in all competitions for Barry Ferguson’s side, they have lost each of their last four at home and face a tough test against an in-form Hibs side.
David Gray’s side tightened their grip on third spot in the Scottish Premiership table last time out as they ran out routine 3-0 winners over rock-bottom St Johnstone at Easter Road.
That victory extended their unbeaten run to 15 matches in the Scottish top-flight (W10-D5-L0), but the capital club have won just one of their past five contests on their travels (W1-D4-L0).
How the bookies view it: Gers Favourites
BoyleSports makes Rangers 2/5 favourites to claim their first victory at Ibrox since the beginning of February.
The same firm has Hibs as 11/2 outsiders, whilst the draw is 7/2.
Head to head: Gers dominance against Hibees
Rangers are unbeaten in their last 12 meetings with Hibs, winning 10 of them, with the Leith club’s last success over Rangers coming in the 2021/22 League Cup semi-final.
In fact, The Hibees have failed to beat Rangers in the Premiership since 2018, but did play out a thrilling 3-3 draw in their last meeting at Easter Road at the beginning of the year.
Players to watch: Boyle to bag again?
Hibernian’s talisman Martin Boyle is their leading scorer in the Premiership with 10 goals and has scored in each of his last three Premiership appearances – as well as a double in their previous meeting with The Teddy Bears.
Cyriel Dessers was the match-winner at Dens Park last week, finally finding the back of the net on his 12th attempt, taking his tally to 23 goals in all competitions this season.
Probable line-ups
Vaclav Cerny missed the Dundee game after picking up a slight hamstring injury on international duty with Czechia but may be back in the squad for Saturday, whilst fellow winger Oscar Cortes made the bench at Dens last Saturday.
Hibs are expected to be without club captain Joe Newell and winger Nicky Cadden once again.
Rangers: Butland, Tavernier, Sterling, Souttar, Jefte, Raskin, Barron, Diomande, Hagi, Igamane, Dessers
Hibernian: Smith, Miller, Bushiri, Iredale, Cadden, Levitt, Triantis, Obita, Campbell, Kukharevych, Boyle
Anything else catch the eye?
The Teddy Bears’ previous 15 Scottish Premiership matches have averaged an eye-watering four goals per game, with Over 2.5 Goals landing in 13 (87%) of them, whilst 11 (73%) of those matches have also produced goals at both ends.
Goals have also been a feature of Hibs’s matches in recent months, with their last 21 Premiership contests averaging 3.10 goals per game, with Both Teams to Score banking in 15 (71%) of them – including in six of their previous seven on the road – whilst 14 of their last 20 have also seen a minimum of three goals.
What’s more, these two sides played out a six-goal thriller when they last faced off at Easter Road at the beginning of the year, and I’m expecting the goals to flow at Ibrox on Saturday.
This Scottish Premiership match between Rangers and Hibernian will be played on and kick off at 15:00. 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.
GambleAware
Has Barry Ferguson steadied the Ibrox ship
No