St Johnstone vs Rangers Prediction: Both teams are struggling

Three weeks after excellently securing a point away at champions Celtic, St. Johnstone will try to confound another Glaswegian great when they host Rangers at McDiarmid Park for a match in the Scottish Premiership on Saturday. The match is scheduled to take place at McDiarmid Park. While the away team has only managed to secure six points out of a potential 12 so far this season, the home team is currently sitting in last place in the league standings because they have failed to win any of their first four matches.

After narrowly avoiding relegation from the Premiership the previous season, St. Johnstone have had a rough start to the new campaign, winning only one of their initial eight competitive matches across all competitions. The Saints were able to snap a losing streak of four games when they battled Celtic to the aforementioned goalless draw at Parkhead at the end of the previous month. They then rescued a point in a dramatic 2-2 draw with Dundee before the international break. The team managed by Steven MacLean was trailing Dundee by two goals coming into the final eight minutes of play. However, a late brace from Ukrainian replacement Max Kucheriavyi, including an equalizer in the 96th minute, guaranteed that the hosts rescued a draw on home soil. In the coming weeks, St. Johnstone will be seeking to pull together a strong run of form as they prepare for three final matches in the month of September against Rangers, Hibernian, and Livingston, all of which have gotten off to a shaky start to the new season. However, success for the Saints on Saturday could be difficult to achieve because they have only won one of their last 18 matches against the Rangers. That triumph came by a score of 2-1 at home in November of the previous year and was the most recent occasion that the Gers traveled to McDiarmid Park.

Following an unsatisfactory start to the new season, there has been a lot of speculation regarding the future of Michael Beale as the head coach of the Rangers. The Gers only won two of their first four Premiership games, and they were eliminated from Champions League qualifying by PSV Eindhoven. However, Beale has stated that his position is not in jeopardy, and it is anticipated that he will continue to serve in that capacity for the foreseeable future. This is due to the fact that rumored top target Graham Potter has reportedly declined the opportunity to manage Rangers, and Birmingham City's John Eustace has denied rumors that he was in talks with the Glasgow giants. Rangers went into the international break on the heels of a crushing 5-1 loss to PSV in the Netherlands. They then went on to suffer a 1-0 loss at home to Old Firm rival Celtic, albeit in disputed circumstances as the Gers believed that they were wrongfully denied a first-half goal due to the involvement of VAR. The Gers can ill-afford to drop too many more points in the Premiership if they wish to remain in touch with leaders Celtic, who already boast a four-point lead over their Glaswegian competitors. However, Beale and company should welcome an encounter with St. Johnstone considering their recent record against the Saints. In fact, Rangers have won six of their past seven matches against St. Johnstone across all competitions, and they have done so while keeping a clean sheet on five of those occasions. However, the loss that was noted before, which occurred at McDiarmid Park in 2022–23, is the only time that Rangers have been defeated in Perth during their last 15 trips there.

St Johnstone possible starting lineup:

Mitov; Brown, McClelland, Considine, Robinson; Costelloe, Phillips, Smith, Carey; Turner-Cooke; May

Rangers possible starting lineup:

Butland; Tavernier, Goldson, Souttar, Barisic; Raskin, Jack, Cifuentes; Roofe, Dessers, Sima

Amid intense pressure, Beale will be looking for a response from his players after Rangers' recent slump in performance, and anything less than a win on Saturday would seem to raise concerns about his future with the club. The Gers, on the other hand, have every reason to be optimistic about their chances of victory against the bottom-tier team St. Johnstone, and we feel that they have the firepower necessary to outscore their opponents in Perth.