Two clubs separated by a solitary point in the Scottish Premiership table meet at Ibrox on Saturday afternoon as fourth-placed Rangers host third-placed Motherwell.
Rangers’ hopes for an unlikely title push were handed a severe blow last Sunday, as they fell to a 2-1 defeat away at Premiership leaders Hearts.
Not only was that Danny Rohl’s first Premiership defeat in charge of the Teddy Bears, but they lie in fourth position, 12 points behind the Jambos, albeit they have a game in hand.
Prior to that loss, the Ibrox club were actually unbeaten in each of their previous 11 Premiership matches, winning six of their past eight.
Motherwell, on the other hand, are still in the midst of a long unbeaten run, with their 1-0 success at home to struggling Dundee last weekend extending their unbeaten streak to 10 matches.
That result saw Jens Berthel Askou’s men move up into third position, one point ahead of their hosts, and only five behind second-placed Celtic, although the Steelmen have played a game more than the Old Firm.
How the bookies view it: Gers favourites
Rangers are favoured to bounce back from their second Premiership defeat of the season, with bet365 pricing a home success at 3/4.
Motherwell are 10/3 underdogs to continue their excellent run of form, whilst the draw is 11/4.
Head to head: Three unbeaten for Motherwell
Historically, this is a fixture Rangers have dominated, but in recent seasons, Motherwell have proven to be a bit of a bogey team for Rangers.
The Steelmen are unbeaten in each of their previous three and four of their past six clashes with the Teddy Bears (W2-D2-L2), winning on two of their last three trips to Ibrox.
Motherwell +0.75 Asian Handicap pays an appealing 33/40 at bet365, with a one-goal loss for the Steelmen resulting in only a half loss, whilst a win or a draw will reward a full payout.
Players to watch: Fernandez to continue to be an aerial threat
Emmanuel Fernandez is beginning to make a reputation for being an aerial threat from set pieces for Rangers, and was so close to getting on the scoresheet at Tynecastle last weekend, as his potentially goal-bound header was flicked in by the offside Bojan Miovski.
The ex-Posh defender has scored three times for Rangers since signing in the summer – including goals in recent home victories over Livingston and Hibs – and is an appealing 7/1 at bet365 to get on the scoresheet once again.
Think you’ve found odds that look too good to be true? Explore our Value Betting guide and learn when a price is genuinely favourable.
Predicted line-ups:
Rangers will be missing a few players here, with John Souttar, Derek Cornelius, Oliver Antman, Lyall Cameron, Nedim Bajrami and Bailey Rice all injured, and Nasser Djiga, who is away at AFCON.
Motherwell look to be without Aston Oxborough, Filip Stuparevic, Sam Nicholson, Eseola Sule Jordan McGhee, and Zach Robinson due to injury, whilst top goal-scorer Tawanda Maswanhise is away at the Africa Cup of Nations.
Rangers: Butland, Aarons, Tavernier, Sterling, Fernandez, Meghoma, Barron, Raskin, Moore, Gassama, Chermiti
Motherwell: Ward, Koutroumbis, McGinn, Welsh, Longelo, Fadinger, Watt, Just, Slattery, Charles-Cook, Hendry
Anything else catch the eye?
The key to Motherwell’s success over the past few weeks is their excellent defensive record, with the Steelmen conceding just two goals across their last nine Premiership matches, keeping six clean sheets on the bounce.
This is a fixture that tends to produce goals, but given that just two of Motherwell’s last nine league outings have seen three or more goals, I think this could be a low-scorer.
Rangers haven’t looked overly dangerous going forward in each of their last three Premiership encounters at Ibrox, so I’m tempted by the 19/20 on offer at Unibet/William Hill on there being Under 2.5 Goals.
GambleAware