Glasgow Rangers may have won three successive games following their 1-0 win over Motherwell in the Premiership last the weekend, yet the boos ringing out at Ibrox when the full-time whistle went tells a different story with regard to their performances.
Michael Beale has been in charge of the Light Blues for ten months, yet the club simply don’t have an identity or playing style and this has resulted in dull, lethargic football being displayed.
The Gers face Livingston this evening in the quarter-finals of the League Cup and with Celtic failing to progress to this stage, the club have a wonderful chance of winning the trophy for the first time since 2011.
With the fixtures coming thick and fast, plus another few injury worries, Beale may make sweeping changes across the team for tonight’s tie.
What’s the Rangers team news vs Livingston?
Assistant manager Neil Banfield spoke to the media before the match yesterday and gave an update on the squad, revealing an injury to one of the club's better players this term – Rabbi Matondo.
He said: “Rabbi has sustained a knee injury, I think he is going to be six weeks. We have got the squad prepared for tomorrow. He is added to the injury list, which has come through the games and is part of what we have got. We build the squad for tomorrow and we go again against Livingston tomorrow night.”
The Welsh winger has enjoyed a resurgence this term having failed to live up to expectations during the 2022/23 season. Before suffering his knee injury against Motherwell, he had scored twice and grabbed two assists while establishing himself as a first-team regular and this will be a blow, not only to the player, but also to Beale.
Youngsters such as Zak Lovelace and Bailey Rice could very well get a chance to showcase their talents at Ibrox this evening, especially with Matondo, Tom Lawrence and Todd Cantwell missing out, but Beale should be dropping one player to the bench – Cyriel Dessers.
How has Cyriel Dessers performed this season?
The former QPR boss sold Fashion Sakala and Antonio Colak this summer, while Alfredo Morelos and Ryan Kent both left upon the expiration of their contracts and the club have gone through a major upheaval with regard to their attacking options.
New arrivals included Danilo, Sam Lammers and Abdallah Sima who joined along with Dessers, yet the jury is still out on these four and whether they will be improvements on the players Beale moved on.
The Nigerian international striker cost the club £4.5m from Italian side Cremonese, and although he scored six times in Serie A last term, he hasn’t exactly lit up Ibrox during his first few months in Glasgow, that’s for sure.
Indeed, across 11 games since joining, Dessers has managed to find the back of the net only three times and this is simply not good enough.
He even ranks in just 20th place across the squad for overall Sofascore rating (6.84) while ranking first for big chances missed (four), tenth for big chances created (one) and 15th for successful dribbles per game (0.4), clearly indicating that he is failing to demonstrate the attributes which led Beale shelling out £4.5m for him in the first place.
He did score the winner against the Steelmen last weekend, but the manager must drop him to the bench this evening and unleash a player who has returned to prominence this season following an injury-disrupted 2022/23 season – Kemar Roofe.
Will Kemar Roofe start for Rangers vs Livingston?
The 30-year-old is now in his fourth term as a Rangers player, yet he has played only 85 times for the club, starting on just 46 occasions due to his injury problems which have been well-documented.
These have led him to miss a staggering 84 matches during his three years at Ibrox. When he has been fit however, Roofe is arguably one of the finest forwards at the club, scoring 37 goals and registering seven assists which included 18 during his debut season in 2020/21, which saw the Gers claim their first title in a decade.
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Former manager Steven Gerrard heaped praise on Roofe then, calling him a “Duracell bunny” due to his relentless energy and never-say-die attitude and these attributes have been key in his rejuvenation this season.
Indeed, the £26k-per-week forward has already made more appearances this term (seven) than the whole of 2022/23 (six) and has scored once and grabbed an assist.
The former Anderlecht attacker has created one big chance for the side in the league this term while recovering 2.2 balls per game and winning 1.6 aerial duels per game – a success rate of 53% – and this physical presence has been key whenever he has started a game.
Rangers Review journalist Jonny McFarlane hailed his abilities just a week into the new campaign, saying: “Rangers need to be bringing a fit Kemar Roofe into the fold more readily. Proven at this level while others get up to the pace of Scotland and demands of Rangers. Looking a bit flat up there in these early domestic skirmishes.”
A win tonight would secure a passage into the last four for the third season in a row, and it is imperative that Beale wins the League Cup this term, especially with Celtic being dumped out in the previous round.
Roofe is back fit and healthy after a horrendous 12 months, and he has already shown exactly what he offers to the team when he is chosen in the starting XI.
Dessers has thus far failed to live up to the hype and unless he starts adding more goals to his tally, Beale may utilise the other options in his first-team squad.
The Jamaica international has a more well-rounded game than that of Dessers and can not only score but is also able to press effectively and track back while using his physicality to good effect against opposition defenders.
It will be another tough game against a team that tend to deploy the low block when playing Rangers, but unleashing Roofe could well cause Livingston plenty of problems.
