1945, Tuesday 27 Sept, Ibrox Stadium, SPL fixture nine
After steamrollering Dunfermline at a sun-drenched East End Park on Saturday, Rangers showed that they have returned to form, at least in the SPL. A 4-0 demolition of the league's new boys put paid to any remainders of last week's hideous lethargy that saw a young Falkirk side dispatch us from the League Cup with some ease.
The same starting XI that had thrashed Celtic were picked to get the team back on the move and they delivered in some style. Many will be expecting almost the exact same side to take on Kenny Shiels' Kilmarnock and open up a seven point lead, albeit with Celtic having a game in hand.
We sit deservedly top of the SPL after eight games, the opening day 1-1 draw with Hearts the only blot on our copybook this league campaign. Kilmarnock's form has been indifferent so far, beating Hibs 4-1 and getting a well-earned point at Pittodrie, but losing away to St Mirren and Inverness CT. If anything, this suggests that their away form is pretty poor, another good omen for the Bears, if we needed one.
Last season at home we beat Killie twice, both times by a narrow 2-1 scoreline, both with fairly average performances from us on the opening day of the season and in mid-March. Miller and Naismith were the scorers on the opening day of the season, with Diouf scoring in March and a late Tim Clancy own-goal giving us the three points.
At home so far this season, we've been a bit of a mixed bag. There have been some good results, such as beating Aberdeen 2-0 and destroying Celtic 4-2 going on 7-2, but the performances have been sketchy at best for most of the season so far. The only foreseeable change to the starting lineup may be the inclusion of Alejandro Bedoya in for the suspended Steven Naismith, who will be serving the first of a controversial two-game ban for violent conduct.
Probable XI - McGregor, Papac, Whittaker, Goian, Bocanegra, Bedoya, Wylde, Davis, Edu, Jelavic, Lafferty.
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