RANGERS remain very much a work in progress and Michael Beale's new-look side welcome Livingston to Ibrox this week.
Beale has been able to splash out north of £15 million on nine new players this summer, but the jury is still very much out after an underwhelming pre-season and two competitive games.
Defeat at Kilmarnock last week means they are already chasing Celtic in the league and they have to take a narrow 2-1 lead to Switzerland for the second leg of their Champions League third qualifying round despite playing against the ten-men of Servette for half an hour.
In both games, they looked sluggish, lacking in creativity and up front they looked disjointed. It may take some time for the likes of Danilo, Cyriel Dessers and Sam Lammers to gel although Jose Cifuentes made an encouraging impact from the bench.
Livingston manager David Martindale was at Ibrox to watch Wednesday's game and he will try and replicate the tactics that won them a point against Aberdeen at home last week.
The West Lothian side were well-organised defensively and enjoyed the physical aspect of the game. They should comfortably avoid getting dragged into any relegation dogfight this season.
How the bookies view it
Rangers are huge favourites at 1/4 with Coral, while you can get 12/1 with Betfred for Livingston. The draw is 21/4 with McBookie.com.
Recent head to heads
Livingston took a point from Ibrox in their last visit in October. However, the West Lothian side have never won at Rangers' ground.
Players to watch
Cyriel Dessers opened his account for Rangers in midweek against Servette and with the amount of chances Rangers create, looks a solid enough shout at 11/10 with William Hill to score anytime.
Livingston will try and take advantage of Joel Nouble's physical strength and he is usually a handful. He is 9/2 to score anytime with Paddy Power.
Anything else catch the eye?
Rangers have simply not clicked yet and their punters are restless…as was shown on Wednesday with the general moans and groans that swirled around Ibrox. They looked almost totally reliant on Todd Cantwell producing a piece of inspiration.
The three forwards appear like they are still trying to play their way into the system Beale wants them to show.
In normal circumstances, Beale would rotate for their Champions League clash, but after last week's defeat they daren't drop any more points.
Perhaps it will fall into place on Saturday, but a big, physical Livingston side are not the ideal opposition and it could pay to back the Lions on the handicap here with a two-goal start with UniBet at 6/5.
Rangers lost the corner count to Servette 5-2 and Livingston managed seven last week against Aberdeen. They may very well opt for a direct route at Ibrox and should be able to get three or more at evens with bet365.
This Scottish Premiership match between Rangers and Livingston will be played on Aug 12, 2023 and kick off at 15:00. Check below for our tipsters best Rangers vs Livingston prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
They’re due a clean sheet and Livi don’t score many goals, so the bet has to be :
Rangers win to nil at Evens (with b365).
I’m going in again on this bet since I spotted BetVictor (and 10bet) offer 13/10 on Rangers win to nil.