This afternoon, Glasgow Rangers will play Livingston at Ibrox in an attempt to win three straight Premiership games after returning from winter break.
Livi, who have only won two games this season and scored 15 goals, are currently bottom of the top division, making this a typically difficult tie to manage. This suggests that the Gers should cruise to a simple victory.
The 1-0 victory over St. Mirren last week is just one example of how Philippe Clement has shaped the Light Blues into a well-oiled team that can now claim victories even when they are not playing well. Of course, it is never easy for the team.
Clement will have to be happy with his three new acquisitions now that the January transfer window is closed, but it appears that Oscar Cortes and Mohammed Diomande will have to wait to make their debuts.
News about the Rangers squad against Livingston
Before the match against Livi, the Belgian manager told the reporters that it wouldn’t be the best idea for both of the new recruits to play today.
“Oscar (Cortes) has that level of fitness because he played matches recently,” he stated. We must manage these individuals into the squad because Diomande played his final game at the end of November while in the preseason.
Hopefully, the two will pick up the pace quickly, especially with a number of significant games looming and team rotation being essential.
Fortunately, there don’t appear to be any fresh injuries on the team, so Clement will have a comparable selection of players for this weekend.
He may make one or two changes to the starting lineup, which might bring in some new players.
Clement might alter something in opposition to Livingston.
Due to Abdallah Sima’s injury, the former AS Monaco manager made a small experiment last weekend against the Buddies by shifting Dujon Sterling from the midfield position he has been playing in lately to a place on the left wing.
The positional adjustment did not go as smoothly as planned, even though the team won 1-0. Sterling’s tendency to play defense meant that he did not offer the same attacking danger as Sima or Rabbi Matondo.
Although Sterling was replaced with a few minutes remaining, he played almost the entire match, but he made no significant impact on the outcome.
The Englishman appeared unfit for a more advanced role as he lost possession 11 times, made only one crucial pass, and won just three of his 14 duels overall.
Matondo made a fleeting appearance against the Paisley team, but since Sima is out and Cortes isn’t yet ready, Clement has to give the former Manchester City starlet a starting role today.
Livingston could be terrified by Rabbi Matondo.
When the Welshman moved to Glasgow in the summer of 2022, a lot was expected of him, but he had a difficult time in his first season.
With just five assists in 28 games across all competitions, the former Schalke star appeared to be leaving Scotland after just one season.
But once he buckled down during the preseason, Michael Beale gave him another chance, which he seized.
The winger was looking well and eager to present a consistent danger in front of goal when he scored his first goal for the team in an August Champions League qualifier at Ibrox against PSV Eindhoven.
Journalist Euan Robertson even referred to him as a “bright spark” after his performance against the Dutch team, and his goal was essential to the final 2-2 tie.
Since then, the 23-year-old has added another goal and four assists, one of which came against Livi back in August. He has also shown that he is deserving of some consistent starts in the starting lineup.
Matondo was on fire during his final Gers start against Hibs last week. The £23k-per-week player not only assisted but also generated two huge opportunities, made two crucial passes, took six shots overall, and was successful in 75% of his dribbling efforts, generally wearing down their defense throughout the match.
He could secure his place on the left wing for the foreseeable future and earn a lot of confidence from another showing like this against the team occupying the bottom half of the table.
This season, Matondo is third in the team for successful dribbles per game (1.3) in the top division. He also ranks tenth for shoots on target per game (0.3), suggesting that although he can deceive opponents with his speed and cunning, he has to improve his finishing.
Rangers’ record in opposition to Livingston
Although they have shown themselves to be formidable opponents in the past several seasons, David Martindale’s team has struggled this year due to financial issues, and they may be making their first trip back to the Championship in six years.
Just a few months after being promoted to the Premiership ahead of the 2018–19 campaign, Livi secured a 1-0 victory over Steven Gerrard’s team in their only victory since then.
The Light Blues have scored 10 goals against the club this season while giving up zero, so it wouldn’t be shocking if the Gers scored three or four today.
In order to give himself the opportunity to change his team during the second half and give some periphery players a chance to play, Clement will be giving his team instructions to get off to a quick start and score a few goals early on.
With everything in his locker to terrorize this hopeless Livi defense—which has given up an incredible 38 goals—Matondo has to be unleashed from the first whistle. The 49-year-old boss will undoubtedly be hoping for all three points.
Three days later, the team plays Aberdeen, therefore a convincing victory would be quite beneficial.
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