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The Scottish Premier League goes into its second round of fixtures this weekend with St Johnstone v Rangers the pick of the games.
The reigning Champions have endured a difficult start to the season under new manager Ally McCoist who succeeded Walter Smith at the end of last season.
Not only did they drop points at home to Hearts in the opening league game of the campaign, but they suffered a disappointing defeat in their Champions League qualifier during the week.
Rangers lost 1-0 at home to Malmo and they now go into the second leg needing a dramatic turn around in fortunes if they are to play in Europe’s elite competition this season.
As for St Johnstone, they began the new campaign with a hard fought 0-0 draw at Aberdeen.
They will go into this game with nothing too lose. Rangers are overwhelming favourites despite St Johnstone’s home advantage.
McCoist’s men will be determined to get their first win of the season and get things underway under the new regime. Three points this weekend will help them ahead of their trip to Malmo next week.
As for particular betting markets to look out for in this game, it could be worth backing a narrow win for Rangers. 2-1 to the visitors is available at 8/1 with some bookies, while 3-2 to Rangers is up for grabs at 33/1.
Then, when it comes to top goalscorer, Rangers predictably dominate with Nikica Jelavic, Kyle Lafferty and David Healy leading the way.
The most likely man to opening the scoring for St Johnstone is Sam Parkin. The former Swindon Town striker scored only four goals last season, but after a productive pre-season he is hoping to make a significant impact on the Scottish Premier League this season.
Quite simply though, Rangers are expected to win and win well. Anything other than this will be a shock. Even if St Johnstone get themselves in front, nobody will be expecting it to last.
Rangers are under some pressure though. They have started poorly and if they drop points again it will hand Celtic further advantage in the title race, even in this early stage.
Elsewhere in Scotland this weekend, Inverness host Hibernian, Kilmarnock are at home to Motherwell and Aberdeen travel to St Mirren.
Celtic are not in league action. Instead, they host Inter Milan in a friendly match. In fact, their next league game is on the 7th August against Aberdeen.
Rangers are the main focus this weekend though as they travel to St Johnstone in search of their first win of the season.
