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

Rangers will attempt to close the gap on league leaders Celtic in the Scottish Premiership to just one point when they welcome Aberdeen to Ibrox on Saturday.

The hosts enter the picture following a midweek defeat in the Champions League to Napoli, while the visitors travel to Glasgow off the back of a victory away to Motherwell last weekend.

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Match preview

Rangers have endured an unconvincing start to the campaign under Giovanni van Bronckhorst and currently sit second in the Premiership table, trailing leaders Celtic by four points.

Despite starting the season in decent form, there has been a sharp downturn in performances both domestically and in the Champions League, which has provoked some cause for concern at Ibrox.

In their last league match, a 91st-minute equaliser from John Lundstram salvaged a 1-1 draw at home to Livingston and caused the gap at the top of the league to extend to four points.

That was followed up in midweek by a 3-0 defeat in the Champions League away to Napoli, courtesy of two goals from Giovanni Simeone and a powerful Leo Ostigard header.

Rangers will need to produce a better display on Saturday against Aberdeen if they are indeed to get back to winning ways on home soil which would narrow the gap on Celtic to one point as they play on Sunday.

Aberdeen travel to Ibrox in good form under Jim Goodwin, winning their last three matches in all competitions, and they will hope to spring a shock this weekend.

The Dons sit third in the Scottish Premiership table and could move to within four points of Rangers in second place with a win in Glasgow.

Last time out, goals from Bojan Miovski and Luis Lopes were enough to give Aberdeen a 2-1 victory away to Motherwell at Fir Park, cancelling out an equalising strike from Stuart McKinstry.

Nevertheless, this was only their second away win of the season in the league and they will need to improve on the road to keep pace with other sides eyeing the European slots.

Goodwin will be desperate for his side to take another step forward this weekend, though will need his side to be at their best against a tough opponent to get a result.

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Team News

Rangers will still be without a host of players for the visit of Aberdeen this weekend.

Connor Goldson, Tom Lawrence, Filip Helander, John Souttar and Ryan Jack will be unavailable for the fixture due to long-term injuries.

Midfielder Ianis Hagi has returned to training, though the tie may come too soon for him to feature as he continues his recovery.

For the visitors, Callum Roberts is nearing a return from injury, though is unlikely to make it for the tie on Saturday.

Aberdeen have no other injury concerns for the match, leaving Goodwin with a strong squad to pick from.

Rangers possible starting lineup:

McGregor; Tavernier, King, Davies, Yilmaz; Lundstram, Arfield; Sakala, Tillman, Kent; Colak

Aberdeen possible starting lineup:

Roos; McCrorie, Stewart, Scales; Richardson, Barron, Ramadani, Clarkson, MacKenzie; Lopes, Miovski

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We say: Rangers 2-1 Aberdeen

In a game with significant ramifications in the Scottish Premiership table, we expect both sides to compete until the end in search of an important victory.

This time around, the hosts will do just enough to secure three points and avoid falling further behind leaders Celtic.

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

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