Scottish Premiership champions Rangers welcome Premier League side Brighton & Hove Albion to Ibrox on Saturday evening in pre-season friendly action.
The Gers have had a mixed summer so far in terms of results, while Brighton are in action for the first time since the end of 2020-21.
Match preview
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Rangers beat Patrick Thistle 1-0 in their first pre-season game before struggling to a 1-0 loss at Tranmere Rovers, which Steven Gerrard accepted was not a good enough performance.
The Glasgow giants were a lot better against the Gunners, twice leading the Premier League heavyweights but twice being pegged back in a 2-2 draw on home soil.
Nuno Tavares cancelled out Leon Balogun's opener and Eddie Nketiah earned Arsenal a draw after Cedric Itten had restored the Gers' advantage.
There were more positives than negatives for Gerrard from that match, though he would have been disappointed at the cancellation of the midweek friendly of Blackpool.
That was due to a COVID-19 outbreak in the Blackpool squad, meaning Rangers now have just two friendlies before starting their title defence.
Those two games against Brighton and Real Madrid take place over the space of 24 hours or so this weekend, so Gerrard will likely have to name two largely different squads.
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Brighton are at an earlier stage of their pre-season programme, with this their first run-out since losing 2-0 to Arsenal on the final day of the 2020-21 Premier League campaign.
That defeat meant the Seagulls finished 16th in a season that saw them flirt with relegation for a while.
Graham Potter will be hoping that is not the case this time around, of course, and he has so far added former Red Bull Salzburg midfielder Enock Mwepu to his squad this window.
Albion also face Luton Town and Getafe before their opening Premier League game against Burnley on August 14, giving Potter limited time to get his players up to full fitness.
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Team News
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Gerrard made a raft of changes at half time and on the hour mark against Arsenal, which is likely to also be the case here.
Jermain Defoe was among those to be replaced, but unlike the other changes, that first-half substitution was injury related.
With Alfredo Morelos yet to return from Copa America duty, Rangers have a serious lack of forward options to call upon.
Itten and Nathan Patterson were introduced from the bench in the Arsenal draw and are in line for a start here, though Gerrard will also have one eye on the Madrid game.
As for Brighton, Potter is likely to name a fairly strong starting lineup for this first run-out of the summer.
There will be no Alexis Mac Allister as he is competing at the Tokyo Olympics, however, while Robert Sanchez is on an extended break after being part of the Spain squad at Euro 2020.
Ben White, part of the England team that reached the final of that competition, is expected to complete a big-money move to Arsenal in the coming weeks.
Rangers possible starting lineup:
McLaughlin; Bassey, Simpson, Balogun, Patterson; Arfield, Kelly, Aribo; Wright, Hagi, Itten
Brighton & Hove Albion possible starting lineup:
Steele; Webster, Dunk, Burn, Karbownik; Gross, Bissouma, Moder; Lallana, Zeqiri, Connolly
We say: Rangers 2-1 Brighton & Hove Albion
Backed by around 8,500 supporters at Ibrox this weekend, Rangers will be out to lay down a marker following some mixed results so far this summer.
Brighton may take a bit of time to get going and, while they arguably boast the better side man-for-man, we are backing the Gers to edge this friendly.
Daniel Lewis
