Super single 2

Rangers vs Stranraer 0-2 Handicap win for Rangers

Head to Head: Rangers have won three and drawn one of their four meetings with Stranraer, all played when Rangers were down in League One in the 2013/14 season.

Stats: Rangers have won 75% of their past meetings with Stranraer, with all of their victories being by more than a single goal margin.

Reason: Rangers' start to this season shows that they have no intentions of slowing down after last season’s demolition of the Scottish Championship. They finished the season 11 points clear of 2nd placed Falkirk, and that was after they took their foot off the pedal in the final few weeks when the title was already wrapped up.

This secured them their long awaited return to the Scottish Premiership, and the only disappointment that came from last season was their loss in the Scottish FA Cup Final. With the new league season kicking off in just a couple of weeks, Rangers are keen to keep their confidence high with a successful Scottish League Cup campaign.

So far they have won all three of their League Cup fixtures, scoring seven goals and keeping a clean sheet throughout to leave them top of their group. They are three points clear of 2nd place Stranraer, who have a game in hand, and nine points clear of the other three teams in the group.

Rangers 3-0 dismantling of East Stirlingshire on Friday was a comfortable win for them. They took the lead in the 10th minute, almost putting the result beyond doubt such was their confidence. They added two more during the remainder of the 90 minutes, but with 72% possession and 14 shots on goal it could have been many more. They limited East Stirlingshire to a single shot, which was off target, in the entire match.

Stranraer had a few more issues against East Stirlingshire when they played last Tuesday. They went a goal behind to them with half an hour to go despite dominating the play, equalising four minutes later. However, they required two injury time goals to secure the points. Stranraer were dominant in this match though, having 20 shots on goal to their opponents’ five attempts.

This victory made it two out of two for Stranraer, who beat Annan Athletic in their opener. At the moment they stand a good chance of going through, but they will probably need another result against either Rangers or Motherwell, both of which will be difficult matches.

I can’t see them getting anything from this match though. Their hosts are looking formidable at the moment and I’m expecting a large margin of victory. Considering the quality difference between the sides and Rangers’ form so far this competition, odds of 1.6+ for a Rangers 0-2 Handicap Win look very good value to me, so that’s what I’m going for along with a 3-0 correct score prediction at 8.5+.