Rangers vs Hibernian predicted XI: Derek McInnes rips up plans, Tochi Chukwuani out

Derek McInnes goes in search of his first competitive win as Rangers manager against Hibernian on Sunday.

It's not been the start to life as Rangers boss that McInnes, nor many supporters, would've been expecting nor hoping for.

A 1-1 draw away at Dundee United on the opening day of the new Scottish Premiership season has been followed up with a disappointing 2-1 defeat against Jagiellonia Bialystok in the first leg of Gers' Europa League round three qualification tie.

Rangers are on home soil for the first time this season on Sunday afternoon, however, with David Gray bringing his Hibernian side to Ibrox.

Hibs were able to beat KF Shkendija 2-1 in the first leg of their Conference League third round qualification tie on Thursday, but were beaten 2-1 by Motherwell on matchday one of the new league campaign.

So, ahead of Sunday's 4pm kick-off in Govan, Ibrox News attempts to predict how McInnes will line his Rangers side up against Hibernian.

Derek McInnes hands Rangers defender debut vs Hibernian

Against Jagiellonia last time out as well as in the Dundee United draw, McInnes deployed Rangers in a 4-2-3-1 formation.

However, with two disappointing results using this system, we're now tipping the Rangers boss to do away with this formation, and revert back to his trusty 4-4-2 that he used to great success with Hearts in 2025-26.

In goal, Ivor Pandur is sure to keep his place between the sticks, whilst Ross McCrorie and Tuur Rommens are likely to keep their starting spots at the full-back positions.

Central defence is where we're backing McInnes to make an alteration to his Jagiellonia XI though, with Dujon Sterling to be dropped and new addition Olwethu Makhanya to earn his Rangers debut.

The 22-year-old South African has been an unused substitute against Dundee United and Jagiellonia, and with Gers having shipped three goals across those two games, Hibernian could be a prime opportunity for McInnes to see what he's got with the ex-Philadelphia Union talent.

Next to him, we can't see Emmanuel Fernandez losing his place in the team, and that could be a formidable centre-back partnership in the making.

So, with one change made at the back, will McInnes make even more changes to his midfield department on Sunday?

McInnes to field new-look engine room vs Hibernian

Rangers have to kick-start their league campaign with a win against Hibernian, as every dropped point could count in the title race come May next year.

As such, we're backing McInnes to be ruthless in the pursuit of three points this weekend, dropping Dan Neil, Mohamed Diomande and Tochi Chukwuani which were his midfield trio of choice against Jagiellonia.

In their places, we're predicting that Nicolas Raskin and Cammy Devlin to form the central midfield duo, and we'll get to Chukwuani's replacement later.

Raskin's proposed move to Real Betis appears to be stalling somewhat, and so whilst he's still a Rangers player, McInnes should have zero hesitation to use him as his extended World Cup break has now finished.

On the left wing, Thelo Aasgaard has been one of the standout early performers of the new season, and so we're backing him to keep his place against Hibernian.

Meanwhile, over on the right, new signing Daisuke Yokota didn't enjoy a dream debut against Jagiellonia and was brought off at half-time, and that could mean Findlay Curtis is brought in to earn his first start of the season.

That just leaves the strikers to sort out, as well as revealing who we think will take Chukwuani's place in Rangers' starting XI.

Hearts formula to be replicated in attack vs Hibernian

For much of his time at Hearts, McInnes almost exclusively set up with two strikers leading the line.

One of those was of course Lawrence Shankland, and after being benched against Jagiellonia, we're expecting him to return to the starting lineup for the visit of Hibernian, replacing Chukwuani.

Indeed, it was Youssef Chermiti who spearheaded Rangers' attack in Poland, but after struggling to leave his mark on the game, now might be the time for McInnes to unleash him and Shankland as a strike partnership.

The best form of defence can often be attack, and with those two up top together, that has the potential to be the most deadly duo in Scottish football.