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

Rangers will attempt to get back to winning ways in the Scottish Premiership when they take on Hearts at home on Wednesday.

The hosts arrive off the back of a shock defeat to St Johnstone, while the visitors travel to Glasgow following two consecutive league victories.

Match preview

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Rangers have been underwhelming in recent weeks, performing well below capacity, which has left them in second position and seven points off league leaders Celtic.

Giovanni van Bronckhorst has come under scrutiny from supporters due to their poor run of form both in the Scottish Premiership and in the Champions League.

The pressure on the Dutchman was ramped up considerably in their last league outing away to St Johnstone, where goals from James Brown and Nicky Clark condemned Rangers to a shock 2-1 defeat despite a late reply from James Tavernier.

Rangers can take solace in the fact their record on home soil is the best in the league currently, having accumulated six wins and one draw from their seven fixtures at Ibrox.

They will need to improve against Hearts on Wednesday to ensure they keep tabs on Celtic, as any further dropped points could prove detrimental to their title bid.

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Hearts travel to Ibrox with renewed confidence under Robbie Neilson and have moved up to fourth in the Scottish Premiership owing to two consecutive league victories.

The Jambos look to have shaken off their malaise of late and have been able to start welcoming back some of their key players from injury, which has aided their cause considerably.

Last weekend, Hearts managed to claim a vital 3-2 victory over Motherwell at Tynecastle despite having 10 men, thanks to a double from Andy Halliday and a late Lawrence Shankland penalty.

There is scope for optimism amongst Hearts fans once again, while they also have the added caveat of their Europa Conference League group stage coming to an end, which will reduce fixture congestion and allow players longer to recover between matches.

Neilson will fancy his chances of springing a shock this midweek against an opponent that is relatively low on confidence at the moment.

Team News

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Rangers are still without several senior players as they prepare for the visit of Hearts on Wednesday.

Connor Goldson, Ryan Jack and Tom Lawrence are all suffering from long-term injuries and will not be involved for several weeks.

Ianis Hagi, John Souttar, Kemar Roofe, Ridvan Yilmaz and Filip Helander will all be out for the match due to nursing various concerns.

Hearts will have to contend without Jorge Grant as the midfielder picked up a straight red card in the victory over Motherwell.

Beni Baningime and Liam Boyce are still suffering with cruciate injuries and will not be present at Ibrox. Stephen Kingsley, Craig Halkett, Gary Mackay-Steven and Peter Haring are all out and will be absent from the Hearts squad.

Rangers possible starting lineup:

McGregor; Tavernier, King, Davies, Barisic; Sands, Lundstram; Sakala, Tillman, Kent; Colak

Hearts possible starting lineup:

Gordon; Smith, Sibbick, Rowles, Cochrane; Snodgrass, Halliday; Ginnelly, Forrest, McKay; Shankland

We say: Rangers 1-0 Hearts

In a tight match, both teams will look to break the resolve of one another as they try to seal a vital three points in the context of their league season.

We expect Rangers to narrowly come out on top in a cagey affair to ensure they do not slip any further behind the top spot.

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