THEY call Partick Thistle the Great Unpredictables, but it's fair to say all but the most diehard of Jag will expect their Scottish Cup tie at Ibrox against Rangers on Sunday to have a very predictable outcome.
The Championship side have been extremely inconsistent this season, even by their standards. They have collected some decent successes in the league by winning at Dundee and twice thumping Caley Thistle at home, but just when it looked like Ian McCall's men could launch a push for the title, they lost at home to both Cove Rangers and Hamilton Accies at Firhill.
It's tough enough going to Ibrox, but Michael Beale has settled Rangers down and they have not only consistently got results, but they have also been playing well…as they showed the other week when they went to Tynecastle and thrashed Hearts.
However, they often get frustrated when playing at Ibrox when they have to break teams down and Thistle will want to try and exploit that.
But with the additions of Todd Cantwell and Nicolas Raskin strengthening Rangers, this should be a penalty kick to the quarter finals…and Rangers don't half love penalty kicks…
How the bookies view it
As a mismatch, with Rangers around the 1/10 mark although you can squeeze a 1/9 with 10bet.
Partick Thistle can be backed at 33/1 with Coral, with the draw at 17/2 with McBookie.com.
Recent head to heads
This is the first meeting for five years between the clubs and Rangers won three out of the four meetings and drew the other one then.
The Jags haven't won against Rangers since 1993 at Firhill and not at Ibrox since 1981 when Mo Johnstone netted for Thistle.
Players to watch
On loan Bayern Munich star Malik Tillman has been in excellent for for Rangers recently having scored in his past two games. He is 9/5 with Ladbrokes to net.
Experienced striker Danny Mullen has not done as much as you would have thought at Maryhill since his summer move from Dundee. He is 6/1 with bet365 to score anytime.
Anything else catch the eye?
Thistle will bring a big support across the city and their West End punters would choke on their hummus if they could pull this one off, but with Rangers improving and Thistle on a poor run of form, it could be damage limitation for the Jags.
You would think a Thistle side who couldn't score at home against Hamilton or Cove Rangers have no chance of scoring at Ibrox, but the Maryhill Magyars have delighted at doing the opposite from what you would expect for years now, so take them to score, but lose and back Rangers to win and both teams to score at 11/5 with Coral.
Rangers are capable of scoring a few here and that's something they have been threatening for some time. Take Rangers to win and over 3.5 goals at 21/10 with bet365.
This Scottish Cup match between Rangers and Partick Thistle will be played on Feb 12, 2023 and kick off at 16:00. Check below for our tipsters best Rangers vs Partick Thistle prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
