Andy Walker details the Rangers trait that will win them the Premiership
Andy Walker believes that the ‘lack of opportunities’ Rangers give to their opponents is what will win them the Scottish Premiership.
The Gers racked up their 15th clean sheet of the season last weekend against Kilmarnock as the Light Blues defence held strong to deny the Killie attack and seal a 1-0 win.
Speaking on the Sky Sports Scottish Football Podcast, Walker claimed that narrow victories like the win against Kilmarnock are the games that will hand Rangers the title.
He said, “The biggest thing for me with Rangers is the lack of opportunity they give their opponents. It’s a remarkable amount of clean sheets that they’ve got and maybe they were just a bit uncomfortable in the last five or ten minutes [against Kilmarnock] but they’ve got someone like Allan McGregor in goal.
“That’s the stat that jumps out at me. When you’re hanging on with a 1-0 advantage, the fact that you give so little opportunity for the opposition to score, that gives your midfielders and strikers a lot of heart.
“Sometimes, when you want to win a title, you need a 1-0 victory to take all three points whether you play good, bad or indifferent”.
The Gers have won their last two games by a one-goal margin and despite increasing pressure late in the game from both Kilmarnock and Lech Poznan, the defence held strong and was arguably more important than the attackers in sealing six vital points in the league and in Europe.
If Rangers can keep up their outstanding defensive record this season then there is no doubt that silverware will come back to Ibrox.
There is no chance that the Gers drop too many points with this defence and it is hard to see a way back for Celtic if the Light Blues maintain such consistent form at the back.
With the excellent attack Rangers boast as well, Walker’s comments show just how much this side has improved under Steven Gerrard and he deserves a lot of credit if he can break Rangers’ trophy hoodoo.
In other Rangers news, Steven Gerrard says it is premature to compare Alfredo Morelos to a certain Ibrox legend.