Rangers head into their Scottish Premiership encounter with St Johnstone on Wednesday night hoping to secure their eighth away victory in the league and move further ahead of rivals Celtic at the top of the table.
Meanwhile, St Johnstone are hoping to get back to winning ways after suffering successive league defeats against Livingston and St Mirren.
Match preview
© Reuters
Rangers had to come from behind against Motherwell to secure a 3-1 victory at Ibrox last weekend, extending their lead at the top of the table to 16 points.
Kemar Roofe bagged a brace in the final 20 minutes of the match, which helped Steven Gerrard's men to maintain their perfect home record of nine wins from nine league games.
Roofe, who joined the club from Belgian side Anderlecht in the summer, has notched eight goals in the Scottish Premiership this campaign, the most of any player who has not scored a penalty.
Rangers are currently enjoying a 10-game winning streak in the league, their best run in the top-flight since March 2008, when they won 13 games consecutively.
The Gers are also unbeaten in their last 11 away games against St Johnstone in Scotland's top tier – winning nine and drawing the other two – last losing to them in March 2010 under former boss Walter Smith.
Another league victory on Wednesday night would be their 17th triumph in 19 fixtures and could move them a staggering 19 points clear of Celtic if they were to lose to Ross County.
© Reuters
After a run of 11 games unbeaten in all competitions, St Johnstone have since lost back-to-back league matches, most recently 3-2 away at St Mirren.
The Saints went into the break leading the match 2-1, however captain Jason Kerr was sent off for a late tackle on Ilkay Durmus, moments before the half-time whistle blew.
That dismissal proved costly as the home side turned the game on its head in the final 10 minutes to snatch all three points.
St Johnstone have now slipped to 10th in the Scottish Premiership, only four points clear of Ross County, who sit rock bottom of the table.
The Saints head into their fixture with Rangers having only won once in their last 20 top-flight league matches against them, a 3-1 win at Ibrox in December 2017.
St Johnstone have lost five home games so far this season – as many as they did in 16 such matches last term. A surprise victory at McDiarmid Park on Wednesday night would be their third of the campaign and could see them jump four places up to sixth in the table.
St Johnstone Scottish Premiership form: WDDDLL
St Johnstone form (all competitions): DWDLWL
Rangers Scottish Premiership form: WWWWWW
Rangers form (all competitions): WWWWLW
Team News
© Reuters
Defender Jason Kerr is suspended after his dismissal against St Mirren last weekend, so Shaun Rooney is set to come into the side as a result.
Stevie May, who has scored five goals and provided three assists in the league so far this campaign, is set to remain as the loan striker, with support in behind from David Wotherspoon and Craig Conway.
Rangers striker Alfredo Morelos is back from his two-match suspension and is likely to start in attack alongside Kemar Roofe and Ryan Kent. Cedric Itten is set to drop to the bench as a result.
Defender Leon Balogun, who suffered a knock to his head against St Mirren, missed last weekend's victory over Motherwell and remains doubtful for Wednesday night.
St Johnstone possible starting lineup:
Clark; Rooney, Gordon, McCart; McNamara, McCann, Davidson, Tanser; Wotherspoon, Conway; May
Rangers possible starting lineup:
McGregor; Tavernier, Goldson, Helander, Barasic; Arfield, Davies, Aribo; Roofe, Morelos, Kent
We say: St Johnstone 1-3 Rangers
Rangers have conceded in each of their last three matches, while St Johnstone have scored in all of their last eight games in all competitions. The hosts will be keen to get back to winning ways, but the Gers should be strong enough to secure another three points in the Scottish Premiership.
Top betting tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Rangers win with a probability of 72.32%. A draw had a probability of 17.5% and a win for St Johnstone had a probability of 10.19%.
The most likely scoreline for a Rangers win was 0-2 with a probability of 13.21%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-1 (11.8%) and 0-3 (9.86%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (8.31%), while for a St Johnstone win it was 1-0 (3.71%). The actual scoreline of 0-3 was predicted with a 9.9% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Rangers would win this match.
