St Mirren vs Rangers Prediction: Back the Bears in Saturday’s Early Kick-Off

The Scottish Premiership returns with a full six fixtures on Saturday, and we get underway in Paisley where St Mirren host Rangers. Betfred’s Frank Monkhouse previews…

The Scottish Premiership returns to full strength following the winter break, and teams are raring to go. The curtain goes up in Paisley, where St Mirren host Rangers from 12:30 GMT in an intriguing game you can follow live on Sky Sports. Rangers are the pre-match betting favourites, but will they live up to expectations?

Rangers won 2-0 when the pair met at Ibrox earlier in the campaign, with Abdallah Sima netting a brace. The on-loan Brighton attacker has since suffered a long-term injury, leaving Rangers fans worrying where the goals will come from if their team is to challenge Celtic for the title. Gers target three wins over St Mirren this season, but will the title challengers secure all three points here?

Team news

St Mirren start fifth in the table and hope to, at least, hold their position and snag a money-spinning top-six finish this season. The Buddies’ fate won’t be decided on Saturday, but this is a real chance for St Mirren to beat a higher-ranked opponent and prove they are serious about finishing amongst the best half-dozen teams in the division and, possibly, earning a spot in Europe. Despite their position, the hosts have won just one of their last five Premiership games.

Rangers play for the second time this week following a dramatic and deserved win over Hibs at Easter Road in the capital on Wednesday. Philippe Clement’s side picked up one of their two games in hand over Celtic, moving to within five points of the champions.

This early kick-off gives Gers the opportunity to cut the advantage to just two points, turning up the heat on Brendan Rodgers’ side, who return with a home game against Ross County.

St Mirren vs Rangers Odds

St Mirren may hold the home advantage and the bulk of the support, but Betfred traders make the away win favourite in this game. That will come as little surprise to followers of football north of the border after Rangers won each of their last three games against St Mirren without conceding a goal.

Will we see repeat or revenge in Paisley? You can back Rangers to win this game at 2/7 or aim for a higher price. St Mirren is 8/1, while the first draw involving these sides since November 2022 is an eye-catching 4/1.

Bet 1 - Rangers -1 handicap @ 10/11

We take our lead from the stats and recent form when making our first prediction and backing Rangers to win -1 goal on the handicap. St Mirren’s recent efforts have been poor by their standards, with the home team losing three of their last four. They were last seen in Premiership action, swallowing a 3-0 defeat when Celtic came calling before the break. They also looked average at best when beating lowly Queen of the South 1-0 in the Scottish Cup.

Compare that to Rangers, who never got out of first gear when putting Hibs to the sword on Wednesday in Edinburgh. Two goals before halftime gave Clement’s men the advantage, and they could’ve and perhaps should’ve scored two or three more. Rangers beat St Mirren without conceding in each of their last three meetings, including twice this season.

Bet 2 - Rangers 3-0 @ 7/1

Sticking with the head-to-head stats, we note Rangers beat St Mirren 3-0 in two of their last three meetings, with the spare a 2-0 home win for Gers last time. Will we see another 3-0 scoreline in Paisley? It’s certainly possible, especially if the visitors are as good as they were in midweek against Hibs. The 3-0 away win trades at 7/1 with Betfred, and that prediction will help keep things interesting.

In addition to those 3-0 wins over St Mirren, recent results show the home team lost 3-0 to Celtic in their last league start, and Rangers beat Hibs 3-0 in their midweek game. The stats support another three-goal win for the team currently sitting second in the table, and the odds mean the rewards outweigh the risks.

Frank Monkhouse covers Scottish Football for us here at Betfred Insights. You can check out all of his work along with that of the rest of our Football Betting Tips desk on our main Football page...