RANGERS must pick themselves up off the canvas when they play host to Kilmarnock in the Scottish Premiership on Saturday afternoon.
The Light Blues fell to a 2-1 defeat against fierce rivals Celtic in last Sunday's League Cup final at Hampden, on an afternoon where our man Mark Walker delivered a pair of winners in his match preview.
That body blow was Michael Beale's first loss as Rangers manager, having avoided defeat in his opening 14 matches as Gers boss before suffering the aforementioned Hampden heartache.
The Rangers chief is now tasked with lifting the spirits in the Ibrox dressing room ahead of Kilmarnock's visit to Govan this weekend.
Killie dropped to second-bottom in the Scottish Premiership table last Saturday as Motherwell hit a last-gasp equaliser in a 1-1 draw at Rugby Park.
Although Derek McInnes' men have a four-point buffer over bottom club Dundee United, it's going to be a very tall order for them to get anything from this match.
Outright Betting
Rangers, who have already beaten Kilmarnock home and away in the Scottish Premiership this season, are unsurprisingly short-priced 1/6 (Bet 365) favourites.
Kilmarnock have yet to triumph in a top-flight road trip this term and the bookies' odds suggest those away day blues could be set to continue, with a Killie victory trading at a towering 20/1 (Ladbrokes) while the draw is also deemed unlikely at 7/1 (SBK).
Betting Angles
It's a case of having to get creative here with a view to getting the hosts onside so I'll head to the Bet Builder market and merge Rangers to Win, Under Five Match Goals and Over Four Rangers Corners at 4/5 (Bet 365).
Rangers have done the majority of their best work at their Glasgow base this season, winning 11 of their 13 league games at Ibrox, one of which was against poor travellers Kilmarnock back in August.
In fact, this is the type of assignment Rangers have been particularly efficient in dealing with in recent years, and I suspect they will record another solid if unspectacular success on Saturday.
With the Light Blues likely to dictate the tempo of the game, and Killie looking to sit deep and soak up pressure, I'll also back the home team to hit a minimum of five corner kicks.
Rangers have averaged a sizeable 7.38 corners per-game in the Scottish Premiership this season, a tally that increases to 8.15 when operating at Ibrox.
With that in mind, coupled with the fact that 11 of Kilmarnock's 15 league defeats this season have featured four match goals or fewer, I'm more than happy to side with the above-mentioned selection at 4/5 (Bet 365).
On a similar line of reasoning to the above, I'll also go with the 6/5 on offer with UniBet for Rangers to Win, Rangers Most Corners and Kilmarnock Most Cards.
The above-mentioned combination has clicked in each of the previous two meetings between the teams this term and I see no reason to oppose the same wager this weekend at odds-against.
This Scottish Premiership match between Rangers and Kilmarnock will be played on Mar 4, 2023 and kick off at 15:00. Check below for our tipsters best Rangers vs Kilmarnock prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
