Ibrox View: Stats show Rangers must be more incisive against Aberdeen to get 20/21 off to flyer
After weeks of waiting, we finally know who Rangers will be kicking off their 2020/21 Scottish Premiership campaign against.
The Gers will travel to Aberdeen on August 1st, before hosting St. Mirren and St. Johnstone at Ibrox and rounding out that first month with clashes against Livingston, Kilmarnock, and Hamilton.
The first Old Firm game of the season is scheduled for October 17th at Parkhead, with the first Ibrox clash taking place in January 2nd, and another at Parkhead on March 20th before the league splits for the latter stages of the campaign.
And given how poorly we tailed off towards the end of this season it is absolutely imperative that we hit the ground running this time around.
With that in mind, our curtain-raiser against Aberdeen is vitally important.
Based on our most recent outing against the Dons, there is plenty to be hopeful about, but also some areas to be wary of.
On the positive side of things, we dominated that match in most respects.
Steven Gerrard’s men had 68.37% possession and attempted 522 passes to Aberdeen’s 169 in that match, as per Wyscout.
They also won 107 duels to Aberdeen’s 98, having contested 235 between them.
Rangers’ pacing was good too, posting a match tempo index of 16.95 to Aberdeen’s 11.86.
But despite all of that, the game finished 0-0.
And a closer look at our attacking stats actually shows that it was an incredibly frustrating outing for the Gers.
Over the course of the 90 minutes, Rangers’ average shot came from 22.06 yards out, whereas Aberdeen’s came from 19.74.
For all of their dominance, Gerrard’s men consistently struggled to get near the goal, and their xG was only 0.23 higher than the Don’s – even though they had 13 more shots.
In short, we can’t allow this to happen again.
Performance-wise this was a solid display from the Gers, but if we are to get our title bid off to the flyer that we all crave, then we need to show a much sharper cutting edge next time out.
In other Rangers news, Ibrox View: Stats suggest Bassey could challenge for Rangers starting role in near future.