Aberdeen vs Rangers 01/08/20

01 August 2020

Aberdeen welcome Rangers to the Pittodrie Stadium on the opening matchday of the 2020/21 Scottish Premiership campaign, looking to bring a four-game winless run in their top-flight H2Hs to an end (D2, L2).

The hosts have lost four of five league home matches this calendar year (W1), all of which came via a narrow one-goal margin. By extension, ten of their previous 11 home clashes across various competitions have ended separating the sides by under 1.5 goals (W5, D2, L4). Yet, all three of Aberdeen’s last Premiership home games have featured over 2.5 goals and both teams score, which has been true in both of their previous top-flight H2Hs held at this venue (D1, L1). The ‘both-teams-to-score’ theme is very much on the cards, given that nine of Aberdeen’s 15 league home outings last season saw both sides hit the net (60%). Also, 86.67% (13) of those 15 fixtures featured at least one goal scored/conceded in the first half of play.

Meanwhile, the visitors finished last season with a whimper rather than a bang (W2, D1, L2), with three of those four results (wins/losses) yielding the identical 1-0 scoreline. Yet, four of Rangers’ previous five league trips have seen over 2.5 goals and both teams on the scoresheet (W2, D1, L2), with three of those matches producing the same 2-1 scoreline. In addition to Celtic, the ‘Gers’ were the only Scottish side to smash a 30-goal barrier on the road last term (31), having scored over 1.5 goals in ten of 15 top-flight trips (66.67%). Notably, seven of Rangers’ ten Premiership away wins in 2019/20 saw them beat their rivals ‘to nil.’