Aberdeenvs.Rangers

A win for the Hoops on Saturday against Kilmarnock would leave Rangers needing to avoid defeat on Sunday to keep their faint title hopes mathematically alive.

Match preview

With 15 points separating second-placed Rangers from third-placed Hibernian, the Gers only need four points from their final six matches to secure second spot in the league.

Despite the huge gap between Rangers and Hibs in terms of points, the Hibees secured a 2-0 victory at Ibrox last weekend, to hand caretaker boss Barry Ferguson the third defeat of his reign.

On Thursday evening, the Gers put in a gutsy display at home to Athletic Bilbao in the first leg of their Europa League quarter-final clash.

Robin Propper was sent off in the opening 15 minutes, and Rangers soaked up all the pressure from the La Liga side to earn a goalless draw against the odds.

Liam Kelly was the hero, as he made a number of saves on the evening, including one from the penalty spot to prevent Alex Berenguer from giving the visitors an advantage in the tie.

This weekend's clash sees the team with the third-strongest home record come up against the second-best away side in the division.

The visitors have netted three or more goals in their past five away matches in the league, and only two times in their history have Rangers managed to achieve this feat in six matches in a row, records that date back to 1899 and 1957.

This weekend, the current Rangers side can add their name to that list if they can score at least three goals - but they could also break an unwanted record of conceding more than twice in seven league games in a row for the first time in the club's history.

Despite having the second-best away record in the league, Rangers have dropped points in half of their away matches, and this has certainly contributed to the big gap at the top of the league, with Celtic securing seven more points on their travels this season.

On Sunday, they take on an Aberdeen side that started the campaign with an impressive 11-match unbeaten run that had the Dons three points clear of Celtic in November.

A 14-match winless run followed, as Aberdeen went over three months without a victory in the league during a brutal run of form.

That difficult spell has left the Dons 29 points behind Celtic in the table, as both Rangers and Hibernian have leapfrogged Jimmy Thelin's side in the standings.

However, the hosts have managed to find their form again, and they have only suffered one defeat in their last seven league outings, and they have as many wins in their last two league matches as they had in the previous 19 beforehand.

The two sides have already met twice this season, with Aberdeen getting the better of the Gers in the clash at Pittodrie Stadium in October, with goals from Nicky Devlin and Shayden Morris helping their side to a 2-1 win.

Rangers got their revenge for that defeat when the sides next met, as they comfortably beat Aberdeen 3-0 at Ibrox in January, with Hamza Igamane, Leon Balogun and Cyriel Dessers all finding the net for the Gers that day.

With the league title all but wrapped up for Celtic, both of these sides are already assured of a top-half finish ahead of the split for the final five games of the campaign.

The main focus for the visitors is ensuring that they qualify for the Champions League next season, on top of trying to claim silverware in this season's Europa League - though if they were to win the Europa League, they would qualify for the Champions League through that achievement, regardless of where they finish in the league.

The hosts also have hopes of European qualification, with the Europa League and the Conference League still remaining possibilities for Aberdeen.

Similarly to Rangers, they will have one eye on their next fixture, as the hosts have a Scottish Cup semi-final against Hearts to look forward to later this month, while the visitors have the return leg of their Europa League quarter-final in Bilbao next Thursday.

Aberdeen Scottish Premiership form:

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Aberdeen form (all competitions):

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Rangers Scottish Premiership form:

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Rangers form (all competitions):

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Team News

Aberdeen have several players out for this match, with Dimitar Mitov (shoulder) and Kristers Tobers (hamstring) not expected to feature, while Sivert Heltne Nilsen (eye) is a further doubt.

Meanwhile, Jamie McGrath (shoulder), Gavin Molloy (shoulder) and Vicente Besuijen (knee) all remain long-term absentees for the Dons.

The visitors have some injury concerns of their own ahead of this match, with Neraysho Kasanwirjo sidelined for the rest of the campaign due to a knee problem.

Bailey Rice (knock) and Dujon Sterling (Achilles) both went off injured against Athletic Bilbao, with Sterling's seemingly a long-term issue, while Rice is now a doubt for this weekend's match.

Elsewhere, Oscar Cortes is back in training following a recent hamstring injury, and he could be in contention to return for the Gers this weekend.

John Souttar and Mohamed Diomande were unavailable on Thursday due to suspension, but they are available for the trip to Aberdeen, and Rafael Fernandes is also available after being ineligible in the Europa League.

Rangers could well stick with Kelly in goal following his heroics on Thursday evening, with the former Queens Park Rangers stopper chosen ahead of Jack Butland.

Aberdeen possible starting lineup:

Doohan; Shinnie, Knoester, Dorrington, Jensen; Clarkson, Palaversa, Keskinen, Gueye, Morris; Nisbet

Rangers possible starting lineup:

Kelly; Yilmaz, Souttar, Propper, Tavernier; Barron, Raskin, Diomande; Igamane, Dessers, Cerny

We say: Aberdeen 2-3 Rangers

Both sides will be more concerned about their upcoming matches in the Scottish Cup and Europa League, respectively.

Written by

Tom Humphrey

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