Preview: St Mirren vs Rangers - prediction, team news, lineups

Two teams still searching for their first win of the 2025-26 Scottish Premiership season will meet on Sunday when St Mirren take on Rangers.

The hosts have started the campaign with a draw and a defeat from their first two matches, while the visitors are without a win from their opening two league games for the first time since 1989.

Match preview

St Mirren recorded their third consecutive top half finish in the Scottish Premiership last season, securing a sixth-placed finish, following a fifth-placed finish in 2023-24 and sixth in 2022-23.

While that certainly makes for a positive campaign, Stephen Robinson, in charge since February 2022, will be devastated that his side missed out on climbing higher up the standings and securing European football.

The Saints trailed the top four by nine points heading into the post-split fixtures, but three draws and two wins meant they finished only three points outside the European spots at the end of the campaign.

Robinson will be hoping to bridge the gap to the top four spots this season, but St Mirren have made a disappointing start to the campaign in search of that goal.

The Saints lost 1-0 to Celtic on the opening day, devastatingly conceding an 87th-minute winner, while they were held to a 0-0 draw with Motherwell on matchday two - leaving them as one of only two teams yet to score in the Scottish Premiership this term, alongside Aberdeen.

Despite that difficult beginning, St Mirren did manage to eliminate high-flying Hearts from the second round of the Scottish League Cup with a penalty victory last time out - a result that Robinson will be hoping his team can build upon on Sunday.

Although the Saints are underdogs on paper heading into Sunday’s clash, they will fancy their chances of exploiting Rangers’ poor start to the season and adding to their misery.

Rangers, following a tumultuous 2024-25 season that saw them place a massive 17 points behind champions Celtic, hired Russell Martin to lead them into the new campaign, with ambitions of closing the gap on their Old Firm rivals.

Martin has failed to have the desired impact on the Gers to date, however, as Rangers have managed only three wins, three draws and two losses from their first eight matches of the term.

That streak includes Rangers failing to secure a league win from their opening two Scottish Premiership matches, drawing 1-1 with both Motherwell and Dundee, marking the first time they have done so since 1989.

Martin's misery was compounded further earlier this week, as Rangers conceded three goals inside the first 20 minutes in an eventual 3-1 defeat to Club Brugge in the playoff round of the Champions League qualifiers, leaving the Gers on the brink of elimination.

Desperate for a morale-boosting victory that the Gers can use as a foundation to work from in the coming weeks, and also looking to avoid extending their winless start to the league term, Martin's side know they simply must take all three points on Sunday.

St Mirren Scottish Premiership form:

D L

St Mirren form (all competitions):

D D L W W W

Rangers Scottish Premiership form:

D D

Rangers form (all competitions):

L W L D W D

Team News

The Saints will be unable to call upon the services of Liam Donnelly for Sunday's outing, as the midfielder has been ruled out for a number of weeks due to an Achilles injury.

Mikael Mandron and Roland Idowu have started each of their first two league matches in attack, and having failed to find the net, there could be attacking changes for Sunday's clash.

As for Rangers, Dujon Sterling is not expected to feature until at least the turn of the year after picking up an injury at the end of last season, while Nasser Djiga is ruled out after being sent off in the last league fixture.

John Souttar could be partnered by Emmanuel Fernandez in central defence as a result of Djiga's absence, while Max Aarons and James Tavernier could start in full-back positions.

St Mirren possible starting lineup:

George; Richardson, Fraser, Gogic, Freckleton, John; Phillips, Baccus, O'Hara; Mandron, Ayunga

Rangers possible starting lineup:

Butland; Tavernier, Souttar, Fernandez, Aarons; Diomande, Raskin, Rothwell; Moore, Danilo, Gassama

We say: St Mirren 1-2 Rangers

Rangers are having a disastrous start to the campaign, but the players should be extremely motivated to end their winless start to the league term and avoid setting any unwanted records.

While the Saints have already demonstrated their strong defence, including keeping Celtic out until the 87th-minute, we believe the Gers will produce a driven and significantly improved performance on Sunday, leading us to expect Martin's men to secure the victory.

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