Preview: Rangers vs. Kilmarnock

Sports Mole previews Tuesday's Scottish Premiership clash between Rangers and Kilmarnock, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.

Rangers play host to Kilmarnock on Tuesday afternoon knowing that a win is imperative if they want to keep any level of pressure on Celtic.

At a time when the home side sit eight points adrift of the leaders in the Scottish Premiership standings, Kilmarnock are fourth after putting together a prolonged undefeated run at the end of 2023.

Match preview

Despite the success that Philippe Clement has experienced during his short stay at Rangers, he would have had one eye on his first Old Firm derby at the weekend.

Although Rangers were the underdogs at Parkhead, Clement was left bitterly disappointed with a 2-1 defeat and the manner of it, his feeling being that decisions went against his team.

The ramifications of that are yet to play out, but the focus needs to be on ensuring that Rangers do not slip any further adrift of their rivals than they already are.

An eight-point deficit with two games in hand is far from a disaster at this stage, yet it ups the stakes ahead of games such as this one, particularly when Celtic do not kick off at St Mirren until after the fixture at Ibrox has concluded.

While Rangers head into this encounter with a five-match winning streak in league matches at Ibrox, they will not be underestimating the surprise package of the season.

Just over six months since they finished in 10th place in 2022-23, Kilmarnock are challenging for a spot in either the Europa League or Europa Conference League qualifiers.

A six-match unbeaten streak since December 6 has included a win over Celtic and a total of 14 points being accumulated, the frustration being that the dropped points have come against teams in the bottom half of the table.

Saturday's 2-2 draw at Dundee left supporters departing Rugby Park with mixed emotions, Kilmarnock having been trailing with six minutes remaining but conceding a last-gasp equaliser having taken the lead moments earlier.

Although they currently sit in fourth, trips to Rangers and Celtic come in their next five Scottish Premiership fixtures, and Derek McInnes knows that his team cannot afford to rest on their laurels if they want to keep the dream of a rare appearance on the continent alive.

Rangers Scottish Premiership form:

Rangers form (all competitions):

Kilmarnock Scottish Premiership form:

Team News

With Leon Balogun serving a suspension due to his red card against Celtic, John Souttar is expected to be restored to the Rangers backline for this fixture.

Fabio Silva is available after making a loan switch from Wolverhampton Wanderers, but the Portuguese forward will likely start among the substitutes.

Several other alterations are expected, though, with Jose Cifuentes, Kieran Dowell and Scott Wright all pushing for recalls in midfield and the final third.

Meanwhile, Rory McKenzie could make only his second Kilmarnock league start of the season having been required to replace Brad Lyons just before half time versus Dundee, scoring one of their goals.

While Liam Donnelly may be brought into the side to strengthen the midfield, and Corrie Ndaba is an option in defence, the rest of the side could stay the same.

Rangers possible starting lineup:
Butland; Tavernier, Goldson, Souttar, Yilmaz; Dowell, Lundstram; McCausland, Cantwell, Sima; Dessers

Kilmarnock possible starting lineup:Dennis; Mayo, Wright, Findlay, Deas; Armstrong, McKenzie, Watson, Kennedy; Vassell, Watkins

We say: Rangers 2-0 Kilmarnock

On the back of suffering his first defeat as Rangers boss, it remains to be seen how Clement will react in terms of team selection. Nevertheless, faced with one of the form teams in the division, Rangers should come out firing and earn a much-needed three points.