How does Rangers' league start compare to the Invincible campaign?

The Ibrox side lost three matches in a row earlier this month, which ended their Champions League hopes along with an unbeaten Premiership run in the space of seven days.

Combined with the reality that such a week spells crisis in Glasgow, the team has responded well ever since.

Covid disruptions and a depleted squad travelling to Armenia three days before the win over Celtic bookended a month that had more than its fair share of challenge and adversity.

Tribulation aside, this team were not at the level they’re capable of in a number of early-season fixtures. A routine win over Livingston started the season strongly, but a below par-showing against Dundee United ended in defeat and defensive fragility was on show against Ross County.

It’s likely that creases will be ironed out as the squad becomes settled for the first time this season and key personnel return – the international break gives some welcome respite from a whirlwind few weeks.

In saying that, how do Rangers’ underlying numbers compare to the four-game mark of season 20/21?

READ MORE: Rangers 1 Celtic 0: Crucial second half change explained in Stats Bomb data match report

Some numbers are hard to quantify, given that an Old Firm is included in this round of games and was not last season. Regardless, a number of metrics can reveal underlying themes from Premiership games played so far in comparison to the record-breaking start to a 55th title.

xG and xG difference 

A slightly lower xG of 1.30 to last season's 1.63 after the four-game mark makes sense in contextualising the Old Firm. The home side wasn't at their most fluid going forward but found a way to win, as good Champions tend to do.

More can be drawn perhaps from the xG difference, which combines the xG for and against of a side. Steven Gerrard's team records a 0.59 xG difference in the league so far compared to 1.41 last season. 

Per 90, the team had an xG conceded of 0.22 at this point last term, compared to 0.71 this campaign, or 0.55 before Sunday's match.

Aggression

StatsBomb defines aggression as: "The proportion of an opponent's pass receipts that are tackled, fouled or pressured within 2 seconds."

Prior to a win over Celtic, Rangers' aggression stats for the season were lagging behind the 20/21 average. At 0.18 per 90, they sat 0.04 lower than the season average of 20/21. Celtic at 0.25 were comparatively 0.02 ahead of their 20/21 total, totalling an average of 0.25.

That number evened out for Gerrard's side over the weekend, with the aggression statistic now sitting at 0.20. The pre-Old Firm number does perhaps gives some context to the fine margins and lack of sharpness that led to goals and chances against this season in the opening three games.

The Rangers Review wrote about the high-value chances conceded against Ross County, who had created next to nothing in their opening fixtures, after a 4-2 win in the Highlands.

Furthermore, the goal conceded in a defeat to Dundee United took a fortuitous deflection but found an avenue to goal that should have been shut down quicker.

There was a defensive fragility present in these games, the numbers explain this as opposed to nonsensical accusations of an inability to deal with pressure or mental fragility.

This slightly improved aggression must be retained after the internationals to prevent these chances that were largely absent in 2020 from occurring.

PPDA

Passes Per Defensive Action is the main statistic to measure how a team presses. It calculates the number of passes a team allows the opposition before making a defensive action to win the ball.

While the above statistics show Rangers' 7.75 PPDA to be lower than last season's four-match average of 6.65, this is a misleading stat. In the three opening games of the season, the PPDA average stood at 5.09. 

Rangers deliberately afforded Celtic plenty of possession at Ibrox last weekend, which lead to a jump in the metric. 

This is an interesting stat and again suggests the rise in xG conceded is borne not out of a more passive set-up, but a sharpness and tempo still to be fully recovered.

More possession isn't necessarily being afforded unopposed to opponents, the fine margins between a ball being played as opposed to closed down has instead led to higher chances against. 

Pressures and Counterpressures 

Gerrard's men are making slightly more pressures per 90 this season.

Given the majority of games domestically played see the side dominate the ball and at points protect a lead in a defensive shape, pressure location would be a more revealing metric if this was an area worth exploring.

What is revealing is the drop off in attempted counterpressures per 90. 

At this point last season, 34 were being attempted per game compared to 23.50 this time around.

This has been a notably poor area of output from the team so far this season. At their best, the side possesses the ability to steal balls in advantageous areas and make the most of attackers staying high. Recovery of the 20/21 output in this area will support both chance creation and prevention.

Conclusion 

The point in this article is to add statistics to the rhetoric that surrounds football. Whether it's a deliberate tactic as the side get up to speed or a case of some players being slightly off the case - Rangers up until Sunday had not performed at the level they are capable of without the ball.

But that is football. Again, taking into consideration the extenuating circumstances that have impacted this season perhaps these findings should not be surprising. 

Further, the start of last season was a record-breaker defensively, and only 13 goals were conceded domestically throughout the whole campaign.

While the xG difference table is not as healthy as desired and a number of chances conceded so far have caused concern, it's highly unlikely this team repeats a similar number of goals against this term. Allan McGregor saved nearly six goals above average in the league last season, such numbers are not sustainable.

Assistant Manager Gary McAllister suggested following the 1-0 win his team looked more like themselves with and without the ball and most supporters would likely agree. Particularly in the second half, there was an aggression without the ball that hadn't quite been up to scratch previously.

Fans have come to expect relentlessness as the norm from this team, so when it falls slightly below par therefore it is all the more noticeable. 

Rangers are yet to hit the heights without the ball but look well on their way to regaining a spell of better form.