This afternoon, as Philippe Clement’s team looks to extend their lead at the top of the Scottish Premiership, the Rangers machine keeps chugging along.
Should the Gers triumph at Ibrox today, they will go five points ahead of Celtic, who will have a difficult trip to Motherwell on Sunday.
But, with third-place Hearts in town, closing the gap at the top of the league will not be simple.
With a full twelve games remaining, it appears that Steven Naismith’s team has established itself as the “best of the rest,” trailing only the Rangers and the Horops.
This will be one of the hardest league tests of the season; Hearts will face serious danger from Lawrence Shankland. However, the team is playing with a lot of confidence right now, and a raucous Ibrox will be anticipating yet another victory.
Todd Cantwell’s injury will keep him out of action for the next three to four weeks, Philippe Clement confirmed at his press conference on Friday. That Kemar Roofe will be up for selection is good news.
Tom Lawrence has pivotal role to play
Rangers News predicts that Clement will make four changes to the starting lineup from last Sunday’s victory over St Johnstone in Perth.
Cantwell’s injury makes Tom Lawrence the obvious choice to take his place at number ten. The Welshman, who took Todd’s place last weekend during the Saints game at the 60-minute mark, will have to provide the creative spark against the Jambos.
Cyriel Dessers is expected to replace Fabio Silva in the starting lineup in other places. However, Ross McCausland and Ridvan Yilmaz are probably going to replace Borna Barisic and Scott Wright, respectively.
It would be obvious to stick with John Lundstram and Mohamed Diomande as the central midfield duo against St Johnstone. They looked excellent together.
Leon Balogun, who recently made his way back to the first team, is a big fan of Clement’s. However, John Souttar has been playing well lately, so we believe the Belgian coach will start him this afternoon against his old team.
This is our Rangers’ expected starting lineup when Hearts visit:
Rangers predicted XI vs Hearts
GK – Jack Butland
RB – James Tavernier
CB – Connor Goldson
CB – John Souttar
LB – Ridvan Yilmaz
CM – John Lundstram
CM – Mohamed Diomande
RM – Ross McCausland
LM – Oscar Cortes
CAM – Tom Lawrence
ST – Cyriel Dessers