Rangers vs Hearts Prediction: Last hope for Clemens’ men

Rangers will play Hearts in the second match of the Scottish Cup semi-final ties on Sunday. The last time these two sides faced each other, Rangers had a commanding 5-0 win in the league. Will Hearts respond in this game as they eye the final of this competition? 

Rangers have endured a number of poor results in recent weeks while also being eliminated from the Europa League. While they struggled in their last two games in the league with no win, the Rangers will now come into this game hoping to right their wrongs. On their road to this semi final Scottish Cup, Rangers have beaten Dumbarton away (4-1), Ayr United at home (2-0) and then traveled to Easter Road to beat Hibernian in the quarterfinals (2-0).

Hearts were at their best last weekend, defeating Livingstone 4-2 at home. In a six-goal first-half encounter, Hearts had to come from two goals behind to pull off that impressive performance, with Jorge Grant, Yutaro Oda, Cameron Devlin, and Lawrence Shankland all getting on the scoresheet. Manager Steven Naismith has steered his team well through the Scottish Cup, although they were pushed by Spartans in their opening game, earning a 2-1 win away from home. Airdrieonians were dispatched 4-1 in another away win in the next round, and then they completed a hat-trick of away victories with a 1-0 win over Greenock Morton in the quarter-finals. Heading into this game, Hearts have now gone three games without a defeat, holding Kilmarnock to a 1-1 draw, while they defeated St. Mirren in one other game.

Rangers' chances of winning the league have depreciated with back-to-back games without a win. However, they are expected to come into this game with focus, desire, and commitment from the start to the end of this game. While Hearts scored four goals in their last weekend's league game, this side has not won against Rangers in 13 straight games, with three draws to show for it. While I still believe this will be a competitive game at its peak, Rangers remain as favorites, and they have the better squad. Take them to win with goals from both teams.