Ibrox View: What Rangers must do to beat stubborn Aberdeen at Ibrox
Rangers face Aberdeen at Ibrox on Sunday in a battle between first and third in the Scottish Premiership, with the Gers seeking to maintain their lead over rivals Celtic.
With a nine-point advantage of Neil Lennon’s team, having played two matches more, this fixture with the Dons represents a potential pitfall.
Three points further back from Celtic, Derek McInnes’ side have been very impressive so far this season, losing just twice from their opening 12 matches.
One of those defeats came in the home fixture against Rangers on the first day of the new season in August, when a Ryan Kent goal was the only difference between the two teams (via WhoScored). On that day Rangers were dominant for much of the game, enjoying more than 60% possession and taking 15 shots. However, they struggled to break down the Dons, who blocked five shots and restricted the Gers to just four efforts on target.
This kind of stout defence was not a one-off either and they have conceded just 11 goals in the league so far this season, with expected goals against of 1.07 per game (via FootyStats).
The Rangers attack has been very good at times this season and currently they have an xG per game of 2.29, with 37 goals scored from their opening 14 matches (via FootyStats). However, their attacking intent has varied from match to match, with Gerrard able to rotate between more and less offensive line-ups.
Between their 5-1 win over Motherwell in September and the 8-0 thrashing of bottom of the table Hamilton Academical last time out, they failed to score more than twice in a league match. Now if this is your biggest concern, you are in a good place, but it is something for Gerrard to consider nonetheless.
Against Aberdeen, Rangers should look to attack and finish the Dons off early. As Gerrard did against Hamilton with Joe Aribo and Scott Arfield as part of a midfield three, he can afford the extra offensive body and rely on the solidity of his back four and holding man to keep things tight at the back.
The Gers could look to save Steven Davis and Ryan Jack for Thursday’ match against Benfica, especially given their age and international exploits, but with Glen Kamara, Ianis Hagi, Aribo, Arfield and Bongani Zungu, they have plenty of options.
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