Rangers must unleash £8.1k-p/w “presence” to silence Shankland

Glasgow Rangers will be desperate to bounce back from their embarrassing Scottish Cup defeat to Queen’ Park last weekend as they return to Premiership action.

In reality, the title race is all but over, as Celtic are runaway leaders. The Light Blues take on Hearts at Tynecastle this afternoon and securing all three points will give the club a lift from their dismal performance the weekend before.

The Jambos have been in good form recently, winning six of their previous seven matches, advancing to the semifinals of the Scottish Cup in the process.

Neil Critchley endured a difficult start to life at the club, but he appears to have turned things around. Can they perhaps take points off the Light Blues today? Anything is possible, especially if Lawrence Shankland performs well.

Lawrence Shankland could cause problems for Rangers

The Scottish striker has struggled to replicate the devastating form he displayed last season, with a return of 24 league goals in the 2023/24 campaign. Across 29 matches, the Scot has netted just four times for Hearts, grabbing six assists too.

In his last Premiership game, Shankland scored and recorded an assist against Dundee, indicating a welcome return to form for the former Dundee United star.

There is no doubt he can cause some damage to an already fragile Rangers defence, especially if they switch like they did against the Championship side.

Could one man perhaps make all the difference? John Souttar looks set to return to the starting XI and he could be the man to completely silence the Scottish marksman.

Clement must unleash John Souttar for Rangers

Just as Souttar was emerging as a key player under Philippe Clement, he suffered an injury against Tottenham Hotspur in the Europa League clash in mid-December which ruled him out for several weeks.

The £8.1k-per-week centre-back was hailed by former teammate Ryan Jack a couple of years ago, who dubbed Souttar as a “presence” in the heart of the defence.

In the Premiership this season, Souttar has succeeded with 92% of his passes, while also being dribbled past just 0.1 times per game, recovering 2.9 balls per and even winning an impressive 66% of his total duels per game in the top flight, which suggests that he can completely dominate Shankland in physical tussles.

He made just his third appearance since returning from injury against Queen’s Park last weekend, coming on with just 30 minutes remaining during the tie.

This was to give him more minutes in the first team, which suggests he will be looking to start against his former side today at Tynecastle.

He has all the tools required to keep Shankland at bay throughout the game, especially with his strength in one-on-one battles.

While the striker has been rather quiet this season, his performance against Dundee recently shows exactly what he can do when he is in the mood.

Three points might not make a difference in the title race, but it will hopefully boost morale around Ibrox. Something which nosedived after the shock Scottish Cup defeat to Queen’s Park.

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