Rangers vs St. Mirren 09/08/20

09 August 2020

St. Mirren will face a formidable challenge of a Rangers side they’ve failed to beat in 11 of their previous competitive H2Hs (D1, L10) when the two sides lock horns at Ibrox Stadium this weekend.

Rangers have started their 2020/21 Premiership campaign with a 1-0 away win over Aberdeen. But, they go into this encounter on the back of a 1-0 away loss to Bayer Leverkusen that sealed their Europa League elimination. The ‘clean-sheet’ theme remains quite significant in the context of Rangers’ recent results. Indeed, none of their previous 11 matches, including friendlies, has ended in a draw (W7, L4), with all of those results (wins/losses) seeing the winner on the day keep a blank sheet and six yielding the identical 1-0 scoreline. By extension, 69.23% (nine) of their 13 Premiership home results last season were ‘to nil.’

Meanwhile, a narrow 1-0 home triumph over Livingston on the opening matchday of the season means none of St. Mirren’s previous four Premiership matches has seen both teams score (W2, D1, L1), with three featuring under 1.5 total goals. Yet, all four of their last top-flight away fixtures have produced over 2.5 goals, with three seeing both sides hit the net. However, no team had picked up fewer points on the road than the ‘Buddies’ (eight) in 2019/20, as they were the only side to fail to achieve a 10-point milestone away from home. Moreover, a lack of ruthlessness in the attacking third had seen St. Mirren net a miserable average of 0.73 goals per Premiership away fixture last season.