Rangers have announced their starting lineup for the Scottish Premiership meeting against Hearts at Tynecastle.
The Gers come to Edinburgh with Philippe Clement under pressure to recover from last weekend’s humiliating Scottish Cup defeat at the hands of Queen’s Park.
A resurgent Hearts will be anxious to pour misery on the Rangers manager, as the Jambos have gone unbeaten in their previous eight Scottish Premiership games.
Rangers’ lineup for the high-noon duel in Edinburgh is as follows.
Rangers starting XI vs Hearts
Rangers goalkeeper Jack Butland remains in goal for Philippe Clement’s team.
Rangers therefore start with captain James Tavernier at right-back and Brazilian left-back Jefte on the opposite side.
Philippe Clement then selects John Souttar over Robin Propper, with Clinton Nsiala starting alongside the Scotland international at centre back.
Rangers’ midfield starts with Nicolas Raskin and Mohamed Diomande, with Tom Lawrence starting at Tynecastle as the number 10.
Ianis Hagi and Vaclav Cerny will start on each wing, with Hamza Igamane taking precedence over Cyriel Dessers at the top of the Rangers assault.
Dessers has a position on the bench, alongside Ridvan Yilmaz, Nedim Bajrami, and Rafael Fernandes.
Rangers’ lineup against Hearts: Butland, Tavernier, Souttar, Nsiala, Jefte, Raskin, Diomande, Lawrence, Cerny, Hagi, Igamane.
Substitutions: Kelly, Ridvan, Propper, Dessers, Bajrami, Fernandes, King, Rice, and Curtis.
Rangers’ defeat is unimaginable for Philippe Clement.
Philippe Clement came out fighting in the pre-match press conference, with Rangers fans turning on the Belgian manager following the loss to Queen’s Park.
Rangers are out of both domestic cups, but Celtic lead the Scottish Premiership by 16 points coming into the meeting at Tynecastle.
With Rangers’ domestic season nearly ended, Philippe Clement’s accomplishments in Europe serve as the lone redeeming grace from this season.
However, Rangers cannot afford to drop any more points against Hearts, with anything less than success being unimaginable for the Belgian manager.
Hearts manager Neil Critchley expects Rangers to respond this afternoon, but with the Jambos in resurgent form, victory is far from guaranteed.
