RANGERS will aim to kick on from their Old Firm success when they travel to Perth to meet a St Johnstone side who had the heart ripped out of them on transfer deadline day.
The shock departures for a pittance really of captain Jason Kerr and Ali McCann to Wigan Athletic and Preston North End on the final hours of the window appears to be a spectacular own goal for a club that had previously been riding on a feelgood factor after an exciting European run that brought in two full houses to McDiarmid Park.
Even though they have replaced them with three players, Ali Crawford, Lars Dendoncker and Cammy MacPherson, it severely upset their fans and looks to have significantly weakened them.
All of which is good news for Steven Gerrard, whose side were famously bundled out of the Scottish Cup by the Saints at Ibrox on a very rare blip of an otherwise outstanding season last term.
Rangers would have been boosted hugely by their win against Celtic and although they look like they have gears to move up to, they will take confidence from that.
How the bookies view it
Rangers are 4/7 with SBK and they will surely be the cornerstone on plenty punters' accas. The Saints can be backed at 11/2 by William Hill and the draw is 31/10 on SBK.
Recent head to heads
The last meeting came in that Scottish Cup tie at Ibrox, which finished 1-1 thanks to that incredible intervention from Saints keeper Zander Clark as seen below.
Rangers won three of the four league meetings between the sides last season with the other game drawn.
Players to watch
Chris Kane will be a key man for Saints here and he's 4/1 to score anytime in Perth. If St Johnstone are going to penetrate that Rangers defence, it will likely come from him.
Having made his international debut this week for Jamaica, Kemar Roofe should be on a high and he's 7/5 with Paddy Power to score anytime.
Anything else catch the eye?
St Johnstone traditionally offer up a real test for Rangers, but they look vulnerable here. They haven't managed to score in their last three games and it looks to be a big ask against Gerrard's men, who looked better defensively against Celtic.
The 7/5 with McBookie.com on Rangers to win to nil appeals.
With the 4/7 too skinny to back on its own, but with Saints starting with new players, it may take them a bit of time to get going and Rangers will look to press home an early lead. The 17/12 for Rangers to win half time and full time looks solid.
This Scottish Premiership match between St Johnstone and Rangers will be played on Sep 11, 2021 and kick off at 12:30. Check below for our tipsters best St Johnstone vs Rangers prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
