Ibrox View: Rangers have nothing to worry about on Livingston plastic pitch

Sun 16 August 2020 10:30, UK

Rangers go into their clash against Livingston on Sunday afternoon looking to maintain their 100% start to the Scottish Premiership season.

The Gers have come flying out of the gates this term, winning all of their first three matches and conceding no goals in the process.

But the meeting at the Tony Macaroni Arena is likely to be an interesting one, not least because of the playing surface.

Livingston play on a plastic pitch, and since it was laid in 2018, it has been a cause of much debate.

The general concern is that it is not only an unfamiliar surface, but that it can lead to an excessive amount of injuries.

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In fact, an RFU study from 2018 found that there was a “staggering” increase in complaints when competitive sport was played on 4G compared to grass.

That will be something that Rangers will have to watch out for, but from a gameplay perspective, do they have anything to worry about?

Recent history would suggest not.

The Gers have won their last three away meetings with Livingston by an aggregate score of 6-0.

And their most recent outing was about as comfortable as you could imagine.

Steven Gerrard’s men won 2-0, but they also had 65.29% possession, as per Wyscout.

As you can see form the graph above, that figure never dropped below 57%, and peaked just shy of 75% shortly before half time.

Clearly then, Rangers can keep and move the ball well on a plastic surface, but they looked equally adept in a defensive sense too.

The Gers won a majority of the 248 contested duels in that match, and had particular success in defensive areas and the centre of the park.

They also had a superior match tempo index, and had an xG that was 0.61 higher than their hosts’.

In short, this was a pretty standard Rangers performance, almost entirely unaffected by the playing surface.

It would be a big surprise if that were to change this time around.