Third meets fourth in the Scottish Premiership on Saturday when Dundee United host Rangers at Tannadice.
The hosts are unbeaten in their four opening league games, while Rangers will be looking to bounce back after defeat to their arch-rivals Celtic before the international break.
Match preview
![Jim Goodwin (Manager) of Dundee United during the 2024/25 Pre Season Friendly match between Dundee United and Luton Town at CalForth Construction Arena, Tannadice Park, Scotland on 26 July 2024 [on August 2, 2024]](https://sm.imgix.net/24/31/jim-goodwin.jpg?w=640&h=480&auto=compress,format&fit=clip "Jim Goodwin (Manager) of Dundee United during the 2024/25 Pre Season Friendly match between Dundee United and Luton Town at CalForth Construction Arena, Tannadice Park, Scotland on 26 July 2024 [on August 2, 2024]")
© Imago
Dundee United come into this game on the back of two consecutive league wins, which sees the Tangerines sitting in third behind Celtic and high-flying Aberdeen.
Their 2-0 home win over St Johnstone came via a Luca Stephenson strike and a Jack Sanders own goal, with their 1-0 away win last time out against Hearts coming courtesy of Ross Graham's late strike.
It has been a stellar start to the season for the Tangerines, who are unbeaten in all competitions so far this season, and they have not conceded a goal in their last three outings either.
Manager Jim Goodwin has a 54% win rate from 66 games at the club, leading his side to the Scottish Championship league title last season, and he looks to have continued that winning formula in the formative stages of this campaign too.
With the signings of North Macedonian duo David Babunski and Kristijan Trapanovski, and Croatian centre-back Vicko Sevelj, Goodwin has added some continental spice to a side that is looking to consolidate its place in the Scottish top flight this season.
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Rangers, meanwhile, have made a somewhat lacklustre start to their campaign, and their results have been very up and down for a side that will have been hoping to challenge for the league title.
The Gers were eliminated from the UEFA Champions League by Dynamo Kiev in the third qualifying round, and they also opened their league campaign with a disappointing 0-0 away draw at Hearts.
They did have a slight upturn in form after these results, beating Motherwell and Ross County at Ibrox 2-1 and 6-0 respectively; the latter of which where Cyriel Dessers and Rabbi Matondo helped themselves to a brace apiece.
However, their unpredictable form would come back to haunt them in their most recent game when they were beaten 3-0 by their bitter rivals Celtic, with Daizen Maeda, Kyogo Furuhashi and Callum McGregor resigning Rangers to defeat at Celtic Park.
Philippe Clement knows that expectations are high at Rangers, but an away win against Dundee United could set his side up nicely as they look to negotiate a League Cup quarter-final and an away trip to Malmo in their opening Europa League game later this month.
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Team News
© Imago
Dundee United will be without Ryan Strain (hamstring), but they otherwise have a fully-fit squad to pick from for the visit of Rangers.
Glenn Middleton could be pushing for a start on the left flank if the manager opts to rotate Will Ferry, with captain Ross Docherty also hoping to start in the midfield alongside Craig Sibbald to provide extra security in the centre of the park.
It is bad news for Clement with regard to Welsh winger Matondo, who is expected to be out for up to two months with the hamstring injury he sustained against Celtic.
There are also some other injury doubts for Rangers heading into this game, with question marks over Danilo (knee) and Ridvan Yilmaz (hamstring), but Nicolas Raskin could be pushing for a start having appeared from the bench last time out.
Dundee United possible starting lineup:
Walton; Holt, Gallagher, Graham; Stephenson, Docherty, Sibbald, Ferry; Babunski, Trapanovski; Van der Sande
Rangers possible starting lineup:
Butland; Tavernier, Souttar, Balogun, Jefte; Sterling, Barron; Cerny, Lawrence, Cortes; Dessers
We say: Dundee United 2-1 Rangers
Dundee United are unbeaten in all competitions so far this season, and with home advantage on their side they can feel confident in their chances of taking all three points against Rangers on Sunday.
The visitors' form is too up and down to predict a win right now, and with the injury news of Matondo, this lack of pace on the flank could hurt Rangers against a side that have not conceded a goal in their last three games.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
