Some will argue that this Scottish Premiership match is a decider for who finishes second. However, with a six-point gap between the two sides going into this match, that race looks to be over.
After losing successive matches to Glasgow rivals Celtic, Rangers come into this match in relatively good form thanks to two wins in their last two whilst one of those aforementioned losses to Celtic was their only league defeat in their last seven outings.
The Gers have been decent in the final third of late having averaged two goals per game in their last five league outings, finding the back of the net in each of them – including three goals against Thursday’s opponents Aberdeen just over a month ago. This represents a huge improvement up front but it is still worth noting that they still only have the fourth-best goal-scoring record in the division. Defensively, this rather more attacking Rangers side has been quite open in the last few matches have not been at their best defensively with no clean sheets in their last four in all competitions, conceding an alarming nine in the process, albeit that seven were against Celtic over the course of two matches.
Aside from that humiliating 5-1 loss to Celtic a few weeks back, Rangers’ home form has been impressive and, with the Old Firm defeat excluded, they have not lost in eight matches at Ibrox, including six wins, scoring 22 goals in the process.
Aberdeen currently occupy 2nd spot and certainly look the more likely of the two sides to finish there right now. However, they have been a bit up and down in recent times with four wins punctured by three defeats in their last seven outings.
Much like Rangers at the moment, the Dons are a side who enjoy getting forward and they have now found the back of the net nine times in those previously mentioned seven games. Furthermore, only champions Celtic have a better Goals For record than Aberdeen’s 66 this campaign. Again though, like Rangers, Aberdeen’s back-line has been rather week in the last few weeks with no clean sheet in their last six matches. Having said that, apart from Celtic, they are the only team in the Scottish top flight to have conceded fewer goals than games played with 34 in 36.
Strangely, Derek McInnes’s men will probably be relieved to be playing away from home at the moment as the three losses mentioned earlier all came on home soil. In complete contrast, Aberdeen have been sublime on the road with four consecutive wins and six wins from their last seven away matches in all competitions, scoring an impressive 17 goals in the process.
As you can tell from their respective records, goals are often on the cards for this pair – five of their last six combined have seen three or more goals go in – and so this match looks as though it should be relatively high-scoring. ‘Over 2.5 Goals’ is the bet to go for. Furthermore, this bet would have won in all three of the meetings between these two sides so far this campaign.
More tips can be found here.