Rangers will head into their Scottish Premiership encounter with St Mirren hoping to claim all three points and move one step closer to clinching their first top-flight title since 2011.
Meanwhile, the Saints have lost just one of their last seven league matches – keeping four clean sheets in the process – and will be looking to beat the Gers for the second time this campaign.
Match preview
© Reuters
Rangers left it late to seal a 1-0 victory away at Livingston on Wednesday night as Alfredo Morelos scored in the 87th minute, moving the league leaders to within four points of winning their first top-flight title in 10 years.
Morelos was involved in a controversial first-half incident that saw the Colombian booked for diving inside the penalty area, despite Lions goalkeeper Max Stryjek clearly making contact with the forward, and the Gers have since lodged an appeal to the Scottish FA to overturn the 24-year-old's yellow card.
Manager Steven Gerrard was incensed at the decision and was sent off at half-time for his protests, which could now see the Gers boss watch his team clinch the title at Celtic Park from the stands.
As the matter does not fall under the Scottish FA's fast-track procedures, there is no set deadline for chiefs to decide how long a punishment to hand out to Gerrard.
Rangers will now be fully focused on Saturday's match at Ibrox against a St Mirren side that are the only domestic team to have beaten them so far this campaign, winning 3-2 in the Scottish League Cup back in December.
The Gers have won 19 of their 20 home games in all competitions this season, including all 15 at Ibrox in the Scottish Premiership.
If Rangers were to secure another three points this weekend, they would need to claim only a point in the Old Firm derby later this month to be crowned champions.
© Reuters
St Mirren extended their unbeaten run to five matches as Jamie McGrath's 82nd minute penalty was enough to seal a narrow 1-0 victory against Ross County in Paisley last weekend.
Head coach Jim Goodwin believes that his players have given themselves a great chance of claiming a place in the top six of the Scottish Premiership, a position the 39-year-old would have been "delighted" with had it been offered to him at the start of the campaign.
Goodwin also knows that his team need one more win from their next two matches to guarantee their highest league finish since 1985.
A victory against such a rampant Rangers outfit is likely to prove a difficult challenge, but the Saints have already claimed such a scalp, winning their League Cup quarter-final tie against the Gers three months ago.
St Mirren will fancy their chances of causing another upset if they can deliver another "immense team performance" as they did in December.
The Saints have not won at Ibrox since January 1992, but a surprise victory on Saturday would see St Mirren end Rangers's perfect home record and their 31-game unbeaten run in this season's Scottish Premiership.
Rangers Scottish Premiership form: WWDWWW
Rangers form (all competitions): DWWWWW
St Mirren Scottish Premiership form: LDDDDW
Team News
© Reuters
Rangers pair James Tavernier (knee) and Kemar Roofe (calf) remain out with injuries, while Leon Balogun (knock) and Ryan Jack (calf) are also expected to miss Saturday's match, although they could return to the side in the coming weeks.
Scott Wright has yet to start for the Gers since arriving from Aberdeen in January and he will be pushing to start ahead of either Joe Aribo or Ryan Kent.
For St Mirren, striker Eamonn Brophy is out for the rest of the season with a fractured foot, so Jonathan Obika looks set to lead the line once again.
Goodwin will be aware that Joe Shaughnessy, Richard Tait, Marcus Fraser, Jake Doyle-Hayes, Conor McCarthy and Ethan Erhahon are all just one booking away from suspension.
Rangers possible starting lineup:
McGregor; Patterson, Goldson, Helander, Barisic; Kamara, Davies, Arfield; Aribo, Morelos, Kent
St Mirren possible starting lineup:
Alnwick; Fraser, McCarthy, Shaughnessy; Tait, Doyle-Hayes, Erhahon, Durmus; MacPherson, McGrath; Obika
We say: Rangers 2-0 St Mirren
Rangers will be desperate to win the league title at Celtic Park later this month, so will be keen to get the job done this weekend and secure all three points at Ibrox.
Even though St Mirren have already caused an upset against the Gers this season, Gerrard's side should have the confidence, determination and quality to win their 28th league match of the campaign on Saturday.
Top tip
Oliver Thomas
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 82.38%. A draw had a probability of 12.1% and a win for St Mirren had a probability of 5.54%.
The most likely scoreline for a Rangers win was 2-0 with a probability of 13.38%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 3-0 (12.28%) and 1-0 (9.72%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (5.74%), while for a St Mirren win it was 0-1 (2.08%). The actual scoreline of 3-0 was predicted with a 12.3% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Rangers would win this match.
