Preview: Rangers vs. Ayr United – prediction, team news, lineups
Saturday’s bumper to bumperAyr United will meet Scottish Premiership heavyweights Rangers at Ibrox Stadium in the fifth round of the Scottish FA Cup.
The hosts are coming off a 2-1 league win over Aberdeen, while the visitors lost 2-1 to Dundee United in the Scottish Championship the last time around.
Under Philippe Clement’s direction, Rangers have had a renaissance, capturing the League Cup for the first time in almost a decade and challenging Celtic for the Premiership title.
The Gers are currently just three points behind their Glasgow rivals with a game in hand, and after their victory over Aberdeen at the weekend, Clement’s side are now on a seven-match winning streak in all competitions.
The new manager’s sole blemish since arriving at the Ibrox Stadium came in the New Year’s derby against the Hoops and is the only defeat the team has conceded since a 2-1 loss to Aris Limassol in the Europa League on October 5.
In this competition, Rangers eased past Dumbarton 4-1 in the previous round and rattled in nine goals in their following four league games leading up to this match while only conceding two in that time.
It is hardly surprising that the hosts are the overwhelming favourites according to the bookmakers, having won each of their last seven meetings against this opponent and outscored them 21-2 during that winning streak.
Meanwhile, Ayr United’s three-game unbeaten league run came to an end last Saturday as Dundee United staged a remarkable second-half comeback to win 2-1 at Somerset Park after trailing 1-0 in the first two minutes.
That loss marked the Honest Men’s 11th league defeat of the season and placed them in sixth place after 23 matches in the Scottish Championship, 11 points behind the top three teams and having played one more game than all
Their uninspiring form this season led to the axing of now-former manager Lee Bullen last month, with Scott Brown being appointed as his successor, but while there have been positive signs since the arrival of the former Celtic and Scotland captain, this is a whole new level of difficulty for his side, especially given the run of form his opponents are on.
In addition, the visitor’s away record does little to improve the outlook for their chances in this match, having only managed to win one of their last eight games on the road across all competitions in regulation time.
Rangers will be without the services of several players for this match, starting with Dujon Sterling, who is suspended for this one after being sent off in the closing stages of the match against Aberdeen last week.
Kieran Dowell (knock), Kemar Roofe (knock), Danilo Pereira (knee), and Abdallah Sima (thigh) all out due to injury, while Leon Balogun is a doubt.
George Stanger, who was sent off in stoppage time during Ayr’s 2-1 loss to Dundee United, will miss this weekend’s match at the Ibrox Stadium.
Frankie Musonda, who has not played since returning from the Africa Cup of Nations with Zambia, might replace suspended Stanger in the starting lineup after appearing on the bench last weekend.
Rangers possible starting lineup:
McCrorie; Tavernier, Goldson, Souttar, Yilmaz; Cantwell, Lundstram, Raskin; McCausland, Dessers, Matondo
Ayr United possible starting lineup:
Albinson; McAllister, Musonda, McGinty, Reading; Syla, Dempsey, Murphy, Mcgeady; Dowds, Willoughby
It is difficult to make much of a case for Ayr United in this match as they head to take on arguably the most in-form side in the top flight at the moment. Therefore, we will keep it short and sweet – we fancy Rangers to cruise to an easy victory in this one.
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