RANGERS have to suffer the humiliation of being labelled the worst Champions League team in history this week, but they will be well-backed to close down the critics with a win at St Johnstone.
A truly risible group stages campaign ended with a pathetic whimper really as Ajax beat them at Ibrox – their sixth loss out of six and that horror show goal difference of -20 meant they beat Dinamo Zagreb's record of being the worst team since the competition was revamped in 1992.
Quite how they have managed to go from the highs of the Europa League Final to this abject surrender in a few months is a debate for another day, but curiously, they are actually the form team in the Premiership with more points than anyone in their last six games.
They annihilated Aberdeen last week in a 4-1 win that severely flattered the Dons and it suggests they more or less gave up in the Champions League.
Of course, beleaguered manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst was missing an entire team of 11 players against the Dutch champions and their makeshift central defence was predictably exposed.
They will face a confident Saints side who are enjoying a far better campaign than last season and face Rangers on the back of a pair of big wins against Hibs and Kilmarnock.
How the bookies view it?
Champions League laughing stock or not, Rangers remain extremely well-respected by the bookies and the best you will get on an away win in Perth is 3/10 with bet365.
St Johnstone can be backed at 11/1 with Coral and the draw is 17/4 with McBookie.com.
Recent head to heads
Rangers have already thrashed St Johnstone 4-0 this season at Ibrox and won all three games last season.
St Johnstone have failed to beat Rangers at McDiarmid Park on the last 15 occasions.
Players to watch
Stevie May has scored four goals so far this season for St Johnstone which isn't actually bad in a side not known for being prolific. He is 11/2 to score anytime in Perth with William Hill.
James Tavernier netted from the penalty spot in midweek and with the introduction of VAR and the number of times an Old Firm team are camped in opposition halves, it makes sense that the number of penalties for both Rangers and Celtic will increase – they both had one last week. He is 5/2 to net with William Hill.
Anything else catch the eye?
St Johnstone were seconds away from getting a draw with Celtic in Perth a couple of weeks ago and this could be another tough test for an injury-ravaged Rangers.
It could easily be a low-scoring game again with the hosts likely to make it difficult for Rangers. St Johnstone have bags of experience in their team now and Rangers to win by one goal at 11/4 with bet365 should give us a run for our money.
On a similar theme, Rangers to win and under 2.5 goals at 23/10 with McBookie.com looks a solid call on Sunday.
This Scottish Premiership match between St Johnstone and Rangers will be played on Nov 6, 2022 and kick off at 12:00. 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.
St Johnstone vs Rangers
Can see Rangers getting a penalty this game so the 4/1 Skybet boost for Tavernier to score anytime looks decent.
Since Tavernier also hits the free kicks, a decent bet is him to score anytime from outside the box which is priced up at the following bookies:
Bet365 7/1
Hills 8/1 and only 12/1 to score a free kick
Skybet 28/1
The Skybet offer of 28/1 is way overpriced.