Rangers vs Livingston Prediction: Which side will pick first league win this season?

This second round of the Scottish Premiership takes place at Ibrox Stadium and features a battle between Rangers and Livingston. Rangers pulled off a win over Servette midweek that should be a balm to their catastrophic loss to Kilmarnock in the opening game of the league, while Livingston's visit to the Tony Macaroni Arena resulted in a tie against Aberdeen.

Following their UCL Qualifiers triumph over Servette FC, Rangers are looking to add another success to their resume. The Rangers were successful in that game, holding possession for 69% of the time and attempting 22 shots on goal, with 8 of those shots hitting the target. James Tavernier and Cyriel Dessers both found the back of the net for the Rangers in the sixth and fifteenth minutes of play, respectively. The opposition, Servette, had a total of 8 shots on goal, with 4 of them finding the target. Chris Bedia scored the game-winning goal for Servette FC in the 44th minute. In five of the last six matches that Rangers have played, there have been three or more goals scored on average. Rangers racked up a total of 13 goals throughout this span, while their competitors were only able to score 5. When looking at their prior results, it can be seen that Rangers have not been defeated in the league by Livingston in any of their most recent 15 matches. In addition, the home team has not tasted defeat in any of their previous 21 league matches played at home.

Livingston's most recent Premiership encounter, which was played against Aberdeen, ended in a scoreless draw. During that game, Livingston had 47% possession of the ball and 12 shots on goal, with only two of them finding the back of the net. Aberdeen, the team they were playing against, had 11 shots on goal, but none of them were successful. Recent games involving Livingston have displayed a pattern in which at least one team has a tendency to keep a scoreless shutout for their team. Taking a look at the minutes from the last six meetings they've had together reveals that this has happened five times. During the course of these battles, Livingston have scored ten goals to the total of three recorded by their opponents. Ahead of this matchup, Livingston have gone their last eight league matches without picking up a victory when playing away from home.

Rangers Predicted Lineup:

Jack Butland, James Tavernier, Connor Goldson, John Souttar, Borna Barisic, Kieran Dowell, John Lundstram, Nicolas Raskin, Sam Lammers, Cyriel Dessers, Abdallah Sima.

Livingston Predicted Lineup:

Shamal George, Michael Devlin, Ayo Obileye, Luiyi de Lucas, Jamie Brandon, Jason Holt, Andrew Shinnie, Mo Sangare, Cristian Montano, Kurtis Guthrie, Joel Nouble.

In light of the fact that Rangers were successful in their Champions League qualification match against Servette, I anticipate that they have built up some momentum, which will be a benefit for them in this encounter. On the other side, despite the fact that Livingston are major underdogs when playing away from home, I have my doubts about whether or not they can handle the strain that is on them. Despite this, I anticipate a more productive offensive showing from both teams this week, especially considering that neither of them scored in the first game of the season.