The Scottish Premiership action continues this weekend when Rangers host Ross County for the match week 25 fixture at the Ibrox Stadium. While Rangers sit at the top end of the table in second place, Ross County finds themselves near the bottom in the tenth spot. The hosts will be keen to secure maximum points and continue their winning streak, whereas the visitors will be motivated to deliver at least a strong performance. Below are some stats looking at the performances of both teams in the current season.
Rangers have won 18, drawn four, and lost two matches thus far. The home team has scored 56 goals with an average xG rate of 2.26 per match. They have conceded 22 goals with an average xGA rate of 0.66. The viz above shows the percentile rank of Rangers compared to other teams in the Scottish Premiership. It can be observed that Michael Beale’s team has an excellent rank in almost all the departments, indicating they have been one of the best performers this season.
Ross County, on the other hand, have won five, drawn six, and lost 13 matches thus far. They have scored 19 goals and conceded 36 in total. The average xG rate of the team is 0.84, while their xGA rate is 1.68. They have not been in the best of form, taking just six points from their last five matches (1W, 3D, 1L). From the viz above, we can observe that Ross County have struggled in the attacking and possession departments. They have comparatively better stats in defence but have faced major shortcomings overall.
The above viz shows the percentile rank of both teams compared with each other as well as with other teams in the league. Under all indicators, Rangers have a significantly higher percentile rank than their opponents. They are challenging for the title as they look to reduce the nine-point gap at the top of the table. Meanwhile, Ross County have displayed some consistency in their last few fixtures as they look to improve on their current position near the bottom half. However, it will require a special performance from them to earn a result against the Scottish giants.
Efficiency of attacks
Rangers have been one of the most efficient sides when it comes to the attacking department. The Gers launch 41.29 positional attacks and 2.08 counterattacks per match on average. Their efficiency for positional attacks and counter-attacks is among the highest. A reason for this is that Rangers are often the more expansive side against their Scottish opponents.
Meanwhile, Ross County creates an average of 23.72 positional attacks and 0.96 counterattacks per match. They have done reasonably well in both attack and defence in their last few matches and will hope to display the same intent in both departments against their decorated opponents. In terms of the efficiency of attacking moves, they are among the lowest-ranked teams in terms of both positional and counterattacks. We can expect Rangers to be the aggressors in this match, with Ross County sitting back and trying to hit them on the break.
Rangers take 17.21 shots per match with an accuracy rate of 40.2%. Alternatively, Ross County takes 7.08 shots per match and has an accuracy rate of 31.6%. The above viz shows the closeness of the rankings of both teams in terms of xG per shot. While the hosts rank fifth in the list with an 0.14 xG per shot, Ross County are not too far behind with an xG per shot of 0.13. Going into this fixture, the Gers will look to enhance their goal tally further, while the visitors will be motivated to be defensively solid.
Key players
James Tavernier has been one of Rangers’ best players this season. He has been one of the top contributors to the team, scoring eight goals and providing five assists. The shot map above shows the attacking threat Tavernier has to offer by taking most of his shots from the right side. The 31-year-old has also been a key figure in the Rangers’ backline, contributing defensively and helping the team keep ten clean sheets when he has played.
John Lundstram has proven to be a key midfield figure for the Rangers. His role in connecting defence with attack from the middle of the park is crucial, as highlighted by the progressive passes made by him in the viz above. The Englishman has also contributed to the attack by scoring five goals. He makes 0.7 key passes and 1.1 interceptions per match. In this fixture, the Ross County players will have the task of not letting Lundstram set the tempo from the midfield.
Team news
Rangers are expected to be without Filip Helander, John Souttar, Tom Lawrence, Steven Davies, and Ridvan Yilman through various injuries. Apart from these players, the rest of the Rangers squad seems fit and ready to play.
Meanwhile, Ross County are likely to miss the services of Ben Paton due to injury. Other than that, the visitors can be expected to put out a full-strength starting eleven.
This will be a must-win fixture for Rangers to remain in the title race and retain the pressure on the league leaders. They will look to collect all three points at home and register five consecutive wins to keep the momentum going. Ross County, on the other hand, will be motivated to stir up an unlikely upset.
Visuals via TFA data viz engine
