Rangers play host to Dundee United at Ibrox this afternoon as the Glasgow giants look to maintain their lead at the top of the Premiership table.
Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s side are the leaders of the division as it stands and are currently four points clear of their arch-rivals in second.
The Gers beat St Johnstone 2-0 in their last league outing in midweek as Alfredo Morelos and Ryan Kent struck to seal the three points.
How many team changes will Van Bronckhorst make for today? Here is our predicted XI…
We are predicting that he will make three alterations to the side, with Nathan Patterson, Juninho Bacuna and Fashion Sakala coming in.
In terms of individual performances, Van Bronckhorst does not have any major selection headaches going into this match. Every single player in the starting XI registered a SofaScore rating of 7.2 or higher in midweek, suggesting that no-one deserves to be dropped because of their display.
However, one change which could be enforced upon the 46-year-old comes at left-back. Borna Barisic came off after feeling unwell against St Johnstone and he could be omitted today in a protective measure.
This could allow Patterson to start at left-back, with Calvin Bassey’s recent form meaning that he should retain his place at centre-back instead of moving to the left of the back four. Van Bronckhorst could opt to switch the 21-year-old to his more natural position and bring in someone like Jack Simpson, but the former’s displays in the middle have been too good and he should be kept where he is for now, opening the door for Patterson to start at full-back.
The other two changes we are predicting are simple cases of rotation, with the Dutchman handing opportunities to some players whilst allowing others to catch a breather after the relentless nature of the recent fixture schedule.
Firstly, Bacuna could come in for Scott Arfield. We published an article explaining why the Dutch-born 24-year-old deserves a start to show what he can do with a chunk of minutes in the first team, giving the experienced Canadian a break ahead of Boxing Day.
Finally, we are predicting that Sakala will come in for Ianis Hagi on the right wing. The Zambian has eight goals and one assist in his last 10 games for club and country and only got 22 minutes of action against St Johnstone, a rest which could lead to a start today.
AND in other news, Gio could save Rangers millions by unleashing £17k-p/w beast, he’s got “major talent”…
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