Cyriel Dessers axed by Philippe Clement in Rangers predicted XI vs Kilmarnock
Philippe Clement is predicted to make two changes to his dominant Rangers starting XI for the trip to face Kilmarnock at Rugby Park.
In-form Cyriel Dessers is tipped to make way for Fabio Silva, while Tom Lawrence could come out for Ross McCausland.
The Belgian got it virtually bang on at home to Hearts at the weekend and his team responded with a stunning 5-0 victory, to bely any fears of complacency after going past Celtic at the top of the table.
The in-form third-placed club were ultimately dispatched with ease but an away game at the side in fourth, who themselves haven’t been beaten since they last faced the Gers on 2 January, is the next hardest assignment outside of an Old Firm derby.
There might be an argument to leave things exactly as they are after such an impressive win, but with games coming twice a week there is likely to be a need for some rotation at least, even if the manager revealed that there were, for once, no new injuries ahead of this one but Kemar Roofe won’t be risked [Rangers via Twitter, 27 February].
Tom Lawrence drops out from Rangers line up which destroyed Hearts at Ibrox
Dessers scored twice against the Jambos as his improved form under Clement continued, but he again could have had a lot more, while Silva came off the bench to net the fifth and went close to a spectacular sixth at Ibrox.
The Nigerian might deserve to keep his place on the basis of his double, but the Rangers boss has been rotating his two strikers since the Wolves youngster arrived on loan and crucially it’s been working, as Dessers has scored seven times in 2024 so keeping him on his toes makes sense.
Silva looked the sharper in his time on the pitch against Hearts so another switch between the two could be on the cards.
At the same time Lawrence, despite some excellent work in the build up to Oscar Cortes’ first-half strike, was arguably the one man in the Rangers XI at the weekend who didn’t quite hit the heights, so he may drop out for McCausland.
There would be some mileage in rotating the centre-backs, with Leon Balogun or Ben Davies coming in, but building a definitive partnership at the position is currently more important, and after John Souttar put in an excellent display alongside Connor Goldson last time out there is no need to disrupt that.
The Light Blues are therefore tipped to line up with potential England selection Jack Butland in goal, and an unchanged back line of James Tavernier, Goldson, Souttar and Ridvan Yilmaz.
In midfield John Lundstram and big-money man Mohamed Diomande start again, along with the increasingly-influential Dujon Sterling.
Cortes keeps his place on the wing, while McCausland comes in on the other behind Silva up top.
In other Rangers news, Sky Sports pundits clashed live on air over the Light Blues signing a highly-intelligent sensation.
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