Preview: Dundee vs. Rangers - prediction, team news, lineups

Thanks to a dramatic comeback victory at the weekend, the visitors now find themselves five points off top spot, while their visitors climbed to fifth place with a win of their own on Saturday.

Match preview

Dundee head into the midweek round of Scottish Premiership matches in relatively high spirits, having climbed through a tight mid-table pack up to fifth spot with a victory at the weekend, after making somewhat of a slow but steady start to the campaign.

Following their promotion from the second tier last time around, the Dee sat on eight points from eight outings with just one win on the board, albeit having still only suffered two defeats with only Celtic and St Mirren losing fewer games.

With their latest defeat coming away at runaway leaders Celtic in mid-September, Tony Docherty's side then headed into the weekend's trip to Livingston on the back of three consecutive draws, having shared the points with Kilmarnock in a 2-2 draw and played out goalless stalemates with Hibernian and Ross County.

That meeting with Livinston then remained goalless for 80 minutes at the Tony Macaroni Arena, with the hosts reduced to 10 men 20 minutes from time, and Dundee would eventually go ahead through Joe Shaughnessy before he quickly added a second to seal their second three-point haul of the campaign and their first since late August.

Such a result saw Docherty's men quickly climb up to fifth spot in the Scottish top flight, but only leading Motherwell and Hearts on goal difference, Hibernian and Livingston by a single point and 10th-placed Aberdeen and 11th-placed Ross County by two, Dundee will hope to extend their unbeaten run to five league games with a major upset on Wednesday to avoid dropping back towards the relegation places.

That will be no easy task, though, as Rangers arrive with the aim of making it three straight league wins under new management and closing the gap to top spot this week.

Following a tough start to the season under Michael Beale, in which they quickly fell behind rivals Celtic in their bid to regain the Scottish Premiership title, the Gers turned to Philippe Clement to take over as new boss in mid-October, and he has inspired victories in each of his first two league games at the helm.

His tenure began at Ibrox against Hibernian, and the Glasgow giants dished out a 4-0 beating thanks to Abdallah Sima's brace and goals from Nicolas Raskin and Cyriel Dessers, before they travelled to Czech Republic to take on Sparta Prague in the third round of Europa League group games and took a creditable point from a goalless draw.

A return to Ibrox then followed at the weekend, as Hearts stood in their way, and after looking set to succumb to a 1-0 defeat as they trailed heading into injury time following Lawrence Shankland's early opener, the Gers fought back in dramatic fashion, with James Tavernier equalising from the penalty spot before Danilo netted the winning goal in the 93rd minute to seal a third straight Premiership win.

While that result saw them move two points closer to leaders Celtic, Rangers know they still have plenty more work to do with a five-point gap to first place, and they will now aim to build on the positive foundations laid at the beginning of Clement's tenure and put another important victory on the board on Wednesday.

Dundee Scottish Premiership form:

D

L

D

D

D

W

Rangers Scottish Premiership form:

W

W

L

W

W

W

Rangers form (all competitions):

L

L

W

W

D

W

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Team News

Dundee may opt to come into Wednesday's meeting with an unchanged starting XI from their 2-0 away victory at Livingston last time out, with attacker Zach Robinson remaining the only notable enforced absentee through injury.

In their conservative 3-5-2 shape, Juan Antonio Portales, Joe Shaughnessy and Aaron Donnelly are bound to line up in the middle of the defence again, while Jordan McGhee and Owen Beck will likely be tasked with more defensive work than at the weekend in their wing-back roles.

Zak Rudden should again spearhead the attack, having managed two goals so far this term, while Scott Tiffoney and Amadou Bakayoko will both fight to come in and join him after Luke McCowan was again preferred last time out, while Crystal Palace loanee Malachi Boateng is a mainstay at the base of the midfield.

Rangers will continue to deal with several injury issues on Wednesday, as wingers Tom Lawrence and Rabbi Matondo remain sidelined alongside defenders Borna Barisic and Dujon Sterling.

Clement's concerns have eased slightly, though, with Jose Cifuentes and Kieran Dowell returning to contention alongside Danilo, who will hope to earn a starting spot after featuring off the bench and netting their winning goal at Ibrox on Sunday.

He could displace Cyriel Dessers and lead the line with support from the dangerous trio of Todd Cantwell, Sam Lammers and Abdallah Sima, who leads their scoring charts with nine goals in all competitions so far this season, while John Lundstram and Nicolas Raskin could again get the nod in the engine room despite competition from Ryan Jack.

Dundee possible starting lineup:

Carson; Portales, Shaughnessy, Donnelly; McGhee, Cameron, Sylla, Boateng, Beck; Rudden, McCowan

Rangers possible starting lineup:

Butland; Tavernier, Goldson, Davies, Yilmaz; Lundstram, Raskin; Cantwell, Lammers, Sima; Danilo

We say: Dundee 0-2 Rangers

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