League One side Falkirk host Rangers in the Scottish League Cup on Sunday hoping to pull off a giant-killing against the league leaders of the Scottish Premiership.
The Gers come into the game after three consecutive home matches, scoring 14 goals in the process, including two strikes in their most recent encounter against Benfica on Thursday.
Match preview
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Rangers suffered another late collapse against Benfica in the Europa League on Thursday night as they let slip a two-goal advantage to draw 2-2 at Ibrox.
Kemar Roofe doubled the Gers' lead in the 69th minute after Scott Arfield scored early in the first half, but just as they did in Lisbon three weeks ago, Steven Gerrard's side failed to hold onto their lead and were forced to settle for a point, delaying the 150th European victory at Ibrox.
Rangers now turn their focus to the Scottish League Cup, where they will be hoping to qualify for the quarter-finals for the sixth time in as many years.
The Gers beat Falkirk 4-1 in this competition four seasons ago and head into Sunday's fixture unbeaten in their last 10 away matches in all competitions.
Rangers could extend their run of seven domestic wins in row, with victory against the home side.
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Falkirk have had a good start to life back in the third tier of Scottish football, which sees the Bairns sitting top of the table, unbeaten from their opening six matches – winning four and drawing the other two.
Co-managers David McCracken and Lee Miller will also be pleased with the success that Falkirk have had in the Scottish League Cup this campaign, winning three of their four matches in Group E and qualifying for the next round in second place.
Lee Miller however will not be able to sit in the dugout this weekend as the player-manager has tested positive for coronavirus.
Falkirk, the lowest ranked side heading into the last 16, come up against a Rangers team who they have beaten in their last two home matches against them.
A shock victory over the Scottish Premiership leaders would see Falkirk reach the quarter-finals for the first time in three years.
Falkirk Scottish League Cup form: WLWW
Falkirk form (all competitions): WWDWWW
Rangers form (all competitions): WWDWWD
Team News
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Rangers midfielders Joe Aribo and Ryan Jack, who missed the draw with Benfica on Thursday, are both doubts after suffering knocks.
Gerrard could give a start to Brandon Barker, Jermain Defoe and Cedric Itten in attack, replacing Kemar Roofe, Alfredo Morelos and Ryan Kent, who all played 90 minutes against Benfica.
Falkirk announced on Friday that two players have tested positive for coronavirus, although they have not yet revealed which players will have to self-isolate.
Co-manager David McCracken is set to stick with the 4-4-2 formation that has been used throughout the 2020-21 campaign.
Callumn Morrison, who has scored four goals in his last three matches, is likely to start on the right side of midfield with Robbie Leitch playing on the left flank.
Falkirk possible starting lineup:
P. Morrison; Miller, Hall, Dixon, Kelly; C. Morrison, Alston, Gomis, Leitch; Dowds, Sammon
Rangers possible starting lineup:
McLaughlin; Tavernier, Helander, Balogun, Bassey; Kamara, Davies, Arfield; Barker, Defoe, Itten
We say: Falkirk 0-4 Rangers
Rangers, who reached the final last season, have not won the Scottish League Cup in 10 years, but a comfortable victory on Sunday against Falkirk is expected, which would take them one step closer to lifting the trophy.
Top betting 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 54.91%. A draw had a probability of 23.6% and a win for Falkirk had a probability of 21.47%.
The most likely scoreline for a Rangers win was 0-1 with a probability of 11.28%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-2 (9.83%) and 1-2 (9.78%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (11.22%), while for a Falkirk win it was 1-0 (6.45%). The actual scoreline of 0-4 was predicted with a 2.5% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Rangers would win this match.
