A strong end to the year could fire Rangers into the Scottish Premiership title race | OneFootball

Three consecutive victories under new manager Danny Rohl have moved Rangers up to fourth place in the Scottish Premiership and forge Rangers title challenge.

Another win is on the cards after the international break, as Rangers are 1/4 to beat Livingston according to Betway’s latest football betting markets.

A victory in that game would not only maintain their recent run of league form, but would also set them up nicely for a hectic run of fixtures before the end of the year.

Intriguingly, the composition of the upcoming fixtures gives Rangers every chance of forcing their way into the title battle before their visit to Celtic on January 3.

Fixtures

Hearts (1st) – 30 points

Celtic – (2nd) – 23 points

Hibernian (3rd) – 18 points

Rangers (4th) – 18 points

Hearts

While Hearts are motoring along nicely at the top of the Scottish Premiership, their momentum could be derailed over the next hew matches.

Just two of their next seven games are scheduled to take place at Tynecastle Park and one of those is against Rangers on December 21.

Derek McInnes’ side visit Aberdeen, Motherwell, Celtic, Falkirk and Hibernian during that spell and you would be hard pressed to describe any of them as an ‘away banker’.

Aside from the home game against Kilmarnock on December 3, Hearts upcoming schedule is packed with potential banana skins.

Celtic will undoubtedly fancy their chances of narrowing the gap on Hearts, particularly as they are scheduled to face them at Parkhead on December 7.

A home win in that fixture would actually benefit Rangers, as it would bring Hearts a little closer to the chasing pack heading into the festive period.

While Celtic have a relatively favourable run of games over the next few weeks, visits to St Mirren, Hibernian and Dundee United could be troublesome.

Hibs

With Hibernian set to face Celtic, Rangers and Hearts before year end, their hopes of hanging onto third place in the standings look fairly remote.

By contrast, Rangers should be rubbing their hands with glee at what could be a profitable run of fixtures before the New Year celebrations get underway.

Home games against Livingston and Falkirk are both winnable, while they are perfectly capable of picking up three points at Dundee United and Kilmarnock.

Rohl

Rohl’s side will fancy their chances of defeating Hibernian at Ibrox, which would put them in a decent position ahead of their trip to Hearts on December 21.

A victory there would blow the title race open, although a draw would not be the worst result in the world, particularly as Rangers end the year with home games against Motherwell and St Mirren.

It has been suggested in some quarters that Rohl’s failure to deliver results against ‘top sides’ is concerning, but that argument is slightly flawed.

Suffering a defeat against Serie A giants Roma was a reminder that Rohl has plenty of work to do, but Rangers will not face a team with their quality in the league this season.

The Scottish Premiership must be the primary short-term focus for Rohl and victories over Kilmarnock, Hibernian and Dundee were a great place to start.

The challenge for Rangers now is to build on those foundations and demonstrate that the title race could still have plenty of life left in it.