Rangersvs.Queen's Park

The hosts breezed past Fraserburgh 5-0 to progress to this stage, while the visitors dramatically defeated Montrose 3-2 after extra-time in their fourth round matchup.

Match preview

After crashing out of the Champions League qualifying rounds and making their worst start to a Scottish Premiership season since 2016-17, recording seven wins, two draws and three defeats, the Gers have been significantly improved over the following months.

Since then, Rangers have suffered a narrow defeat in the Scottish League Cup final, losing on penalties to Celtic, secured a top-eight finish in the Europa League, booking their place directly in the round of 16, and climbed to second in the league, though they are 13 points behind their Old Firm rivals.

Philippe Clement, who faced intense criticism after their poor start to the campaign, has led the side to seven wins, three draws and just one defeat over the past 11 outings, leaving them in superb form heading into this one.

The Gers will look to build on that momentum with another victory on Sunday, aiming to move closer to the Scottish FA Cup final and reclaim the trophy for the first time since the 2021-22 season, stripping the title from Celtic following their defeat to the Bhoys in last season's final.

Rangers will be favourites to record a commanding win in the fifth round, with their opponents taking a step up from the Scottish Championship to face the Gers.

Queen's Park have enjoyed a remarkable climb up the Scottish footballing pyramid over the past years, recording back-to-back promotions from League Two and League One in 2020-21 and 2021-22.

They were on the verge of making it three successive promotions when they placed in the playoff spots in the Championship in 2022-23, but lost to Partick Thistle in the quarter-finals.

That defeat had a major impact on Queen's Park, who dropped into a relegation battle in 2023-24, only surviving the drop by a single point, but they are now back in the race for promotion this term.

Callum Davidson's side are one spot outside the playoff places as they sit fifth in the table with 29 points from 23 matches, but their recent form has seen them slip away from the top four.

The Spiders have won only three of their last nine outings across all competitions, alongside one draw and five defeats, leaving them in need of a shock upset against Rangers to potentially spark an improved run in the coming weeks.

Rangers Scottish Cup form:

W

Rangers form (all competitions):

W

W

L

W

W

W

Queen's Park Scottish Cup form:

D

Queen's Park form (all competitions):

W

D

D

L

D

L

Team News

The hosts are expected to be without Dujon Sterling (foot) and Neraysho Kasanwirjo (knee) due to ongoing injury issues, while Leon King, Leon Balogun and Connor Barron are all doubts.

After a confident and dominant display in the 4-0 victor against Ross County in their most recent outing, Clement could opt to name a similar starting 11 in this one.

As for Queen's Park, after a difficult time over the past matches, Davidson may decide to revert to the team that qualified for the fifth round of this competition by beating Montrose.

Zak Rudden came off the bench to score a dramatic 90th-minute equaliser to send the game to extra-time, where Joshua Scott scored the winner, and both players may be in line for starts here.

Rangers possible starting lineup:

Munn; Tavernier, Souttar, Nsiala, Jefte; Diomande, Raskin; Cerny, Igamane, Hagi; Dessers

Queen's Park possible starting lineup:

Ferie; Longridge, Ujdur, Tizzard, Scott; Mauchin, Welsh; Turner, Duncan; Rudden, Drozd

We say: Rangers 3-0 Queen's Park

Written by

Ellis Stevens

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