Rangers vs Newcastle United

Ibrox Park is the venue as Rangers and Newcastle United go head-to-head in a handsomely-looking pre-season friendly.

Rangers thumped St. Mirren 3-0 in the final round of the 2022/23 Scottish Premier League season to sign off with a five-game unbeaten league run (W4, D1). However, it was only enough for another runner-up finish but perhaps laid the foundation for a more promising future. Michael Beale’s men have impressively netted 2+ goals in their last four league outings, getting on the scoresheet on either side of halftime on each occasion. In addition to their outrageous scoring form, the ‘Gers’ have been rock-solid at the back, recording three clean sheets across their last five games. Against this backdrop, they’ve conceded in both previous friendlies against Newcastle, albeit they avoided defeat each time (D1, L1).

In the meantime, Newcastle United turned their opening summer friendly against lower-league Gateshead on its head, overcoming a 2-0 halftime deficit to come out 3-2 victors. Despite only mustering one win in five Premier League games down the final stretch of last season (W1, D3, L1), the ‘Magpies’ secured a top-four finish against the odds to qualify for the Champions League group stages for the first time in over two decades. Newcastle’s recent form woes aside, they’ve been quite fun to watch, with three of their last five matches seeing over 2.5 goals and both teams on the scoreboard. Eddie Howe’s men have fared reasonably well away from home lately, going unbeaten on four consecutive travels in the build-up to this trip (W2, D2).