A quick look ahead to the second day of matches in the second week of the season in the Scottish Premiership.
This Sunday features the two clubs who are competing in Europa League Qualifyings as is usual. Both teams are coming off of a match on the road in Europe.
Rangers vs. Hibernian
Rangers have their home opener against Hibernian. Hibernian was one of several clubs to give Rangers very significant issues last season so it will mark a good test for if the team has made meaningful improvements this season or not. A convincing win would also go some distance to killing some of the bad vibes that were left over after such a close match with Kilmarnock in the first week.
For Hibs, they got a close victory over St. Mirren at Easter Road in the first week and will look to build off of that to get at least a draw at Ibrox. As stated before, Hibernian did very well against Rangers last season so they should have no shortage of confidence in their ability to compete, although Rangers’ demolition of FC Midtjylland in Denmark last week can’t make them feel better about the matchup.
St. Mirren vs. Aberdeen
Aberdeen had a rough go of it in the first round of their Europa League qualifier and will be looking to bounce back in Scotland to try and gear up for what will have to be a big performance in the second leg.
Aberdeen had a very strong showing in their first match of the season in a 3-2 victory over Hearts of Midlothian at Pittodrie even if it was aided by Hearts being down to 10 men at the end. In fact, before this round of European play, Aberdeen have mostly looked rock solid. As such they should be expecting a victory.
For St. Mirren, despite not taking any points on the road against Hibs, they looked fairly decent in all phases of the game and will be trying to prove that it wasn’t just for show. Around the club, they have had a lot of talk about how they expect to have a better season after nearly being relegated and if they can manage a result here it would help their case.