Rangers: Van Bronckhorst must brutally axe Cedric Itten from the XI | OneFootball

Giovanni van Bronckhorst will be hoping to maintain his unbeaten start to life at Rangers with another Premiership clash tonight.

The Gers have not lost a single game since the Dutchman was appointed as Steven Gerrard’s successor at Ibrox and he now faces the daunting prospect of his first Old Firm clash with Celtic.

Rangers come into this huge match off the back of a frustrating 3-3 draw away to Ross County last weekend and will be hoping to return to winning ways against the Hoops.

Brutally axe

One player who must be axed from the starting XI for this is match is centre-forward Cedric Itten. The Gers cannot afford to carry any lightweights in such a mammoth clash at the top of the table and the striker has proven himself to be exactly that in recent matches.

Should Itten be dropped?

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He has, quite simply, not been good enough for Rangers and van Bronckhorst may not have faith that he will be able to deliver the goods against Celtic, which is why he must be taken out of the team.

In the win over Livingston, Itten was poor, so much so that Rangers Review described his display as a “night to forget.” As per SofaScore, he lost four of his six duels overall as he failed to create a single chance or manage a shot on target in 59 minutes on the pitch.

The £2.7m-rated dud was then given another chance to lead the line against Ross County but was unable to show strong signs of improvement. As per SofaScore, he lost a whopping six of his seven duels (85%) and only completed 65% of his passes, although he did manage one shot on target.

This means that he lost 10 of his 13 individual battles across the two matches and failed to provide a goal or assist as the lone number nine. Therefore, he was a lightweight who offered no quality in the final third and Rangers cannot afford to have him starting through the middle, in that kind of form, against Celtic.

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Who did Rangers beat in their first game of 2021?

Celtic Aberdeen St Mirren Ross County

Van Bronckhorst could call upon Kemar Roofe to replace the Swiss forward. The ex-Leeds man has scored six league goals in six starts this season and was fit enough to play a part off the bench last weekend, suggesting that he could now be ready to be named in the XI.

Therefore, the Dutch head coach should place Itten on the bench and hand a start to the Englishman to potentially improve the club’s chances of coming away with the three points at Parkhead tonight.