Glasgow Rangers return to competitive action for the final time this season as they travel to Hampden Park for the SFA Cup final this afternoon.
The Light Blues go from Ibrox to the national stadium to take on their local rivals Celtic in the final match of the domestic calendar in Scotland.
Philippe Clement’s side failed to end the Hoops’ dominance in the Scottish Premiership, as they sealed a third straight title, but they could prevent them from winning a double by coming out on top today.
The Belgian head coach is also eyeing a double of his own after winning the League Cup, with a 1-0 win over Aberdeen, at Hampden Park earlier this term.
Rangers were held to a 3-3 draw away to Hearts on the final day of the Premiership season last weekend and the boss may look to make some changes to his starting XI from that match, to give his team the best chance of picking up the win this afternoon.
Latest Rangers injury news
The Light Blues will be without central defender John Souttar for this clash, as the Scotland international has been completely ruled out of contention to feature.
Ridvan Yilmaz is also a big doubt for the game after he entered Clement’s office to tell him that a new injury issue had cropped up, which may leave Robbie Fraser and Borna Barisic battling it out for the left-back berth.
Leon Balogun, Souttar, Tom Lawrence, Connor Goldson, and Dujon Sterling were among those who did not make the matchday squad against Hearts.
However, Clement did reveal ahead of this game that he could be willing to take some “risks” with some players due to it being the final game of the season, which suggests that some of the recently unavailable stars could make a surprise return this afternoon.
One player who returned to the squad against Hearts was Brighton & Hove Albion loanee Abdallah Sima, who made his first appearance since April off the bench.
The Senegal international has missed 19 games through injury since the turn of the year but his outing against the Jam Tarts suggests that he is now ready to play a part in the final against Celtic today in what could be his final game for the club before his loan ends.
With this in mind, Clement must now take one of the ‘risks’ he spoke of by finally unleashing Sima from the start ahead of Scott Wright on the left flank.
Why Scott Wright should be dropped
The Scottish winger was selected to start on the left wing against Hearts last time out but did not do enough to nail down his position in the team ahead of the cup final.
Wright played the opening 60 minutes and failed to register a single shot on target and did not create any ‘big chances’ for his teammates, whilst he also lost four of his six ground duels.
The right-footed attacker recently scored a brace in the 5-2 win over Dundee at Ibrox but that has been a flash in the pan in what has been a rather uneventful campaign for the forward.
| 23/24 Premiership | Scott Wright (Rangers) |
|---|---|
| Appearances | 23 |
| Starts | 8 |
| Goals | 2 |
| Assists | 0 |
| Big chances created | 1 |
| Key passes per game | 0.6 |
| Stats via Sofascore | |
As you can see in the table above, the former Aberdeen man failed to produce any goals or assists in his 22 appearances in the division either side of his two strikes against Dundee this month.
The 26-year-old dud also lost 60% of his ground duels in the Premiership, which suggests that opposition defenders have found it too easy to get the better of him in physical battles.
Wright, who has scored four goals and assisted zero in 31 matches in all competitions, has not proven that he has the quality to make a big impact in the final third for the Gers.
In fact, his last start against Celtic was a failure as the winger was substituted at half time after losing three of his five duels and completing just eight passes in the first half.
Clement must avoid another poor performance from the forward against the Hoops by ruthlessly dropping him down to the bench to make way for Sima to be included in the starting XI on the left side.
why Abdallah Sima should be unleashed
The Senegal international should finally be unleashed from the start for the first time since the semi-final of this competition against Hearts on the 21st April – over a month ago.
He has the potential to be a match-winner for the Light Blues at Hampden Park this afternoon as his form throughout the season suggests that the quality is there for him to cause problems for Celtic.
In fact, Sima scored in his last appearance against the Hoops with a deflected volley off the bench in a thrilling 3-3 draw at Ibrox at the start of April.
This shows that the winger, who was hailed as “outstanding” by journalist Josh Bunting, has been far more impressive in front of goal than Wright in the league, which suggests that he has a greater chance to be a difference-maker from the start in the SFA Cup final against Celtic today.
| 23/24 Premiership | Starts | xG | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| James Tavernier | 38 | 15.66 | 17 |
| Cyriel Dessers | 27 | 21.72 | 16 |
| Abdallah Sima | 17 | 10.4 | 11 |
| Todd Cantwell | 24 | 5.49 | 7 |
| Rabbi Matondo | 7 | 2.93 | 5 |
| Stats via WhoScored | |||
As you can see in the table above, he has been one of the most prolific players within the squad and has outperformed, unlike Cyriel Dessers, his xG, whilst being the only player with fewer than 27 starts in double figures for goals.
Sima, who the aforementioned Bunting also lauded as a real “handful”, is a threat to opposition defences with his impressive ability to find the back of the net on a regular basis.
This is why Clement must finally unleash the 6 foot 2 star from the start ahead of Wright, who has struggled in front of goal throughout the campaign, for this huge Hampden clash.
