Rangers and Arsenal will be looking to bounce back from their dismal pre-season defeats last time out when they battle each other in another pre-season friendly this Saturday at Ibrox with kickoff at 16:00.
Rangers stated off their pre-season with a 1-0 win against Patrick Thistle before falling 1-0 to lowly Tranmere Rovers on Saturday thanks to a 39th minute goal from Kieron Morris. Rangers could not equalize despite the double figure changes made at half time. However, Steven Gerald has affirmed that his players are fighting to wear the shirt in this pre-season and hence is confident of following in the footsteps of Hibs when they face Arsenal tomorrow.
Rangers will face Blackpool in their final pre-season friendly on Wednesday before they begin their 2021-22 Scottish Premier League campaign against Livingstone at home on July 31st.
Arsenal on other hand opened their pre-season friendlies in disappointments when they lost 2-1 to Hibs on Tuesday. Goals from the Hibs duo Daniel Mackay and Martin Boyle saw their team go ahead 2-0 before Emile Smith Rowe scored a consolation goal for the Gunners in the 82nd minute.
Arteta’s side will head into the friendly determined to record their first win of pre-season as they prepare to fly to USA to take on Inter Milan and either Everton or Millonarios in the Florida cup before also taking on Chelsea and Tottenham in pre-season friendlies early August.
Arsenal are currently busy in the transfer market they look to offload some of their players as they bring in new talents such Nuno Tavares as well as promoting some of their academy players to first team squad, all in preparation for their 2021-22 campaign.
The gunners will have a hard start to the 2021-22 Premier League campaign as they travel to met the newly promoted Brentford in their opening before taking on Chelsea and Manchester City in their following successive matches.
Rangers vs Arsenal head to head
These two sides have only met in two occasions, first they met in 2003 and then in 2009 with Arsenal winning 3-0 in both occasions first at home and then away. Rangers will be looking to change that in the Saturday’s clash.
Home
- Tranmere 1-0 Rangers
- Patrick Thistle 0-1 Rangers
- Rangers 4-0 Aberdeen
- Livingston 0-3 Rangers
- Rangers 4-1 Celtic
Away
- Hibernian 2-1 Arsenal
- Arsenal 2-0 Brighton
- Crystal Palace 1-3 Arsenal
- Chelsea 0-1 Arsenal
- Arsenal 3-1 West Bromwich
Rangers team news
Allan McGregor missed their defeat to Tranmere but is expected to return for this one. However, NiKola Katic and Ryan Jack will be out as they continue to recover from injuries. Also, Alfredo Morelos will be unavailable due to his involvement in the Copa America.
Arsenal team news
Bernd Leno, Granit Xhaka and Bukayo Saka will all be unavailable due to their involvement in the Euro 2020. Also, Gabriel Martinelli will be unavailable as he will be representing Brazil in the Tokyo Olympics while Gabriel Magalhaes will miss out due to a knee injury. However, Kieran Tierney is training with the team in his homeland and might be featured in the clash. Nuno Tavares awaits his non-competitive match debut.
Prediction and odds
- Double chance
- Draw
- Both sides to score
