Rangers look to prevent themselves falling further behind the leaders as they travel to New Douglas Park to take on out-of-form Hamilton. Rangers are the obvious favourites for this match, due to their superior head to head record and higher league standing.
Scottish Premiership – SuperSeal Stadium, Hamilton 29th September – 19:45 UK Time
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Draw Best Odd of: 7/2 at Skybet |
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Hamilton
RangersHamilton
Defeat at St Johnstone last weekend made it three consecutive losses for Hamilton, and four matches without a win.
Two of those defeats have been at home, to Celtic and Hearts, which means they have only picked up one win from three as hosts.
They currently sit in eighth position in the Scottish Premiership, with seven points from their seven games, and are in the sort of form which could see them once again caught up in a relegation battle this season.
Rangers
A 2-0 home loss to champions Celtic last weekend leaves Rangers eight points adrift of top spot, which may be too big a gap even at this early stage of the season.
That defeat was their second of the season, with the first coming at home to Hibernian in week two. However, they are unbeaten in the league away from home with two wins and a draw from three matches.
Currently in fifth, with eleven points from seven games, they know they must put together a decent run of results to remain within touching distance of the European places.
Team News
Hamilton will be without goalkeeper Gary Woods for this match, after he suffered a lacerated kidney in the defeat to St Johnstone. Darren Jamieson could be handed his first appearance for the club, replacing Woods between the sticks, over a year after signing for them.
Defender Georgios Sarris will also be missing for the home side, following a knee operation which will keep him out for around six weeks.
Also absent for Hamilton is midfielder Darian MacKinnon, who serves a one-match ban following his sending off at St Johnstone.
Rangers still have defensive problems. Captain Lee Wallace is expected to be out for around two months, with Bruno Alves and Declan John remaining doubtful.
Youngster Ross McCrorie looks set to feature again after he made his Scottish Premiership debut against Celtic last weekend.
Head to Head
These sides have met 17 times, since October 2008, and Hamilton are yet to pick up a win over Rangers.
Rangers have won 15, with one of those victories coming After Extra Time, and there have been two draws.
In the league, there has been 12 meetings, with Rangers winning 11 and one draw.
The most recent meeting was a league encounter in March this year. Rangers won 4-0 at home on that occasion.
Hamilton have played host to Rangers in six league meetings, losing all six.
Betting Odds and Predictions
Sky Bet have the visitors priced at 4/9 for the victory, with Hamilton at odds of 11/2 and the draw priced at 100/30.
We fully expect Rangers to continue their dominance over Hamilton, and preserve their unbeaten away record in the league this term.
The home side have only failed to score once in the league this season, and have found the net at least once in each of their last six matches. For that reason, and the fact Rangers have only kept one clean sheet in the league so far, we think Both Teams to Score looks a solid bet at odds of 8/11.
Due to our belief that Rangers will win this match and the high possibility of both teams scoring, BTTS and Rangers to win could be the best bet of the day at odds of 15/8.
In all five league games in which Rangers have scored this season, they have found the net in both halves. Sky Bet offer odds of 1/1 on the away side scoring in both halves of this match.
As for who will score the goals, we think punters should go with Alfredo Morelos. The Rangers striker has scored six league goals this term, finding the net in four of seven matches.
Morelos is 100/30 to score the first goal, which he has done in all four league fixtures he has scored in. It’s 1/1 for the Colombian to score anytime, and 4/1 for him to net a brace. Punters who believe he could score his first hat-trick of the season can get odds of 22/1.
It’s also 11/8 for Morelos to score anytime and Rangers to win.
Top Betting Tip
Our top betting tip for this match is BTTS and Rangers to win, at odds of 15/8 with Sky Bet.