Ibrox View: Gerrard to make three changes, Zungu starts – Rangers predicted XI v Ross County
Premiership leaders Rangers welcome Ross County to Ibrox on Saturday afternoon as they bid to increase their advantage over Celtic at the top of the table.
Celtic were held to a 2-2 draw by Livingston on Wednesday night which means Steven Gerrard’s men can move 23 points ahead of their Old Firm rivals with a victory over the 10th-placed Staggies.
As Rangers have a testing trip away to Hibernian next Wednesday, we believe that Gerrard could rest a few players from the starting line-up that he named for the 1-1 draw against Motherwell last weekend.
Leon Balogun, Steven Davis and Alfredo Morelos could all be dropped from the side that drew at Fir Park with Filip Helander, Bongani Zungu and Jermain Defoe all getting starts instead.
Rangers have another week to rest up after their trip to Easter Road on Wednesday so Gerrard will be able to revert to his strongest possible line-up in Edinburgh without worrying about an upcoming match at the weekend.
Allan McGregor is pretty much nailed on to start in goals behind a back-four of James Tavernier, Connor Goldson, Helander and Borna Barisic.
The Gers conceded for the seventh time in the Premiership when they were held to a draw by Motherwell on Sunday so we could see Gerrard hand Helander his first appearance of 2021 versus John Hughes’ Ross County.
Davis has played a lot of football this season and injuries to Ryan Jack and Scott Arfield have not helped Gerrard to keep his options fresh and rotated in the midfield. Zungu could come in to replace Davis and play alongside Glen Kamara in the centre of the park with Joe Aribo ahead of them.
In the attack, Ianis Hagi could start on the right with Ryan Kent on the left. Gerrard doesn’t have many options out wide and while Kemar Roofe has returned to training this week [Scotsman], it’s unlikely the injury-prone attacker will be rushed back into the starting line-up.
Up front, Morelos has shown signs of being able to get back to his best but with the trip to Hibs on Wednesday a far tougher game, he could be rested and Defoe handed a chance to shine instead.
While Cedric Itten scored at Fir Park on Sunday, Defoe also showed brief flashes of brilliance when he came off the bench and Gerrard has been more likely to start his former England team-mate over Itten in the Premiership.
In other Rangers news, John Hartson has made a big admission about the Gers after Celtic drew at Livi.