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Dundee logo
Scottish Premiership | Gameweek 11
Nov 1, 2023 at 8.30pm UK
Kilmac Stadium at Dens Park
Rangers logo

Dundee
0 - 5
Rangers


Sylla (19'), Shaughnessy (23'), Rudden (76'), Cameron (90')
FT(HT: 0-1)
Jack (5'), Danilo (51'), Lammers (74'), Dessers (83'), Tavernier (90+1' pen.)
Balogun (20')

Preview: Dundee vs. Rangers - prediction, team news, lineups

Sports Mole previews Wednesday's Scottish Premiership clash between Dundee and Rangers, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.

Aiming to further narrow the gap to Celtic at the top of the Scottish Premiership table, Rangers will travel to Dens Park to take on Dundee on Wednesday.

Thanks to a dramatic comeback victory at the weekend, the visitors now find themselves five points off top spot, while their visitors climbed to fifth place with a win of their own on Saturday.


Match preview

Rangers manager Philippe Clement before the match on October 26, 2023© Reuters

Dundee head into the midweek round of Scottish Premiership matches in relatively high spirits, having climbed through a tight mid-table pack up to fifth spot with a victory at the weekend, after making somewhat of a slow but steady start to the campaign.

Following their promotion from the second tier last time around, the Dee sat on eight points from eight outings with just one win on the board, albeit having still only suffered two defeats with only Celtic and St Mirren losing fewer games.

With their latest defeat coming away at runaway leaders Celtic in mid-September, Tony Docherty's side then headed into the weekend's trip to Livingston on the back of three consecutive draws, having shared the points with Kilmarnock in a 2-2 draw and played out goalless stalemates with Hibernian and Ross County.

That meeting with Livingston then remained goalless for 80 minutes at the Tony Macaroni Arena, with the hosts reduced to 10 men 20 minutes from time, and Dundee would eventually go ahead through Joe Shaughnessy before he quickly added a second to seal their second three-point haul of the campaign and their first since late August.

Such a result saw Docherty's men quickly climb up to fifth spot in the Scottish top flight, but only leading Motherwell and Hearts on goal difference, Hibernian and Livingston by a single point and 10th-placed Aberdeen and 11th-placed Ross County by two, Dundee will hope to extend their unbeaten run to five league games with a major upset on Wednesday to avoid dropping back towards the relegation places.

Rangers' Abdallah Sima celebrates scoring their first goal on October 5, 2023© Reuters

That will be no easy task, though, as Rangers arrive with the aim of making it three straight league wins under new management and closing the gap to top spot this week.

Following a tough start to the season under Michael Beale, in which they quickly fell behind rivals Celtic in their bid to regain the Scottish Premiership title, the Gers turned to Philippe Clement to take over as new boss in mid-October, and he has inspired victories in each of his first two league games at the helm.

His tenure began at Ibrox against Hibernian, and the Glasgow giants dished out a 4-0 beating thanks to Abdallah Sima's brace and goals from Nicolas Raskin and Cyriel Dessers, before they travelled to the Czech Republic to take on Sparta Prague in the third round of Europa League group games and took a creditable point from a goalless draw.

A return to Ibrox then followed at the weekend, as Hearts stood in their way, and after looking set to succumb to a 1-0 defeat as they trailed heading into injury time following Lawrence Shankland's early opener, the Gers fought back in dramatic fashion, with James Tavernier equalising from the penalty spot before Danilo netted the winning goal in the 93rd minute to seal a third straight Premiership win.

While that result saw them move two points closer to leaders Celtic, Rangers know they still have plenty more work to do with a five-point gap to first place, and they will now aim to build on the positive foundations laid at the beginning of Clement's tenure and put another important victory on the board on Wednesday.

Dundee Scottish Premiership form:

Rangers Scottish Premiership form:


Rangers form (all competitions):



Team News

Rangers' Cyriel Dessers celebrates scoring their second goal with teammates on August 9, 2023© Reuters

Dundee may opt to come into Wednesday's meeting with an unchanged starting XI from their 2-0 away victory at Livingston last time out, with attacker Zach Robinson remaining the only notable enforced absentee through injury.

In their conservative 3-5-2 shape, Juan Antonio Portales, Joe Shaughnessy and Aaron Donnelly are bound to line up in the middle of the defence again, while Jordan McGhee and Owen Beck will likely be tasked with more defensive work than at the weekend in their wing-back roles.

Zak Rudden should again spearhead the attack, having managed two goals so far this term, while Scott Tiffoney and Amadou Bakayoko will both fight to come in and join him after Luke McCowan was again preferred last time out, while Crystal Palace loanee Malachi Boateng is a mainstay at the base of the midfield.

Rangers will continue to deal with several injury issues on Wednesday, as wingers Tom Lawrence and Rabbi Matondo remain sidelined alongside defenders Borna Barisic and Dujon Sterling.

Clement's concerns have eased slightly, though, with Jose Cifuentes and Kieran Dowell returning to contention alongside Danilo, who will hope to earn a starting spot after featuring off the bench and netting their winning goal at Ibrox on Sunday.

He could displace Cyriel Dessers and lead the line with support from the dangerous trio of Todd Cantwell, Sam Lammers and Abdallah Sima, who leads their scoring charts with nine goals in all competitions so far this season, while John Lundstram and Nicolas Raskin could again get the nod in the engine room despite competition from Ryan Jack.


Dundee possible starting lineup:
Carson; Portales, Shaughnessy, Donnelly; McGhee, Cameron, Sylla, Boateng, Beck; Rudden, McCowan

Rangers possible starting lineup:
Butland; Tavernier, Goldson, Davies, Yilmaz; Lundstram, Raskin; Cantwell, Lammers, Sima; Danilo


SM words green background

We say: Dundee 0-2 Rangers

Dundee have been tough to break down this season, but Rangers, rejuvenated under Clement's management, have the quality to break through and should have more than enough to prevail on Wednesday and leave with all three points.


For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.


Top tip

Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting over 2.5 goals in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.Over 2.5:curl


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Game History

How you voted: Dundee vs Rangers

Dundee
6.1%
Draw
12.1%
Rangers
81.8%
33
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rhs 2.0
Today's games header
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
Championship Group
1Celtic000080265478
2RangersRangers000072234975
3Hearts101046341263
4Kilmarnock10104334952
5St Mirren00003843-543
6Dundee00004454-1041
Relegation Group
1Hibernian11004752-542
2Aberdeen11003649-1338
3Motherwell10014652-637
4St Johnstone10012549-2431
5Ross County10013258-2630
6Livingston11002459-3521
 
First Phase
1Celtic33246380265478
2RangersRangers33243672234975
3Hearts33195946341262
4Kilmarnock33131284334951
5St Mirren33127143843-543
6Dundee331011124454-1041
7Hibernian33912124451-739
8Motherwell33813124651-537
9Aberdeen33811143549-1435
10St Johnstone33710162446-2231
11Ross County3379173256-2430
12Livingston3339212259-3718


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