RANGERS continue their Premiership campaign in Tayside on Saturday, travelling to Dens Park to face Dundee.
Following last season’s promotion via the play-offs, James McPake’s team remain winless after six Premiership matches and subsequently sit bottom of the table.
Last time out in the league, they lost 1-0 at Tannadice in the Dundee Derby, despite having outperformed their city rivals on xG 1.19 to 0.84.
Similarly, on the basis of the play, they were unfortunate to not claim victories against Livingston and Motherwell.
They did earn draws with Hibernian and St Mirren despite their opponents boasting an xG of over 2 on each occasion.
Dundee sit third from bottom on the non-penalty xG difference table, which measures the team's xG for and against.
That figure is slightly misleading as a picture of all six Premiership games they've played, as it includes a 6-0 defeat at Celtic Park.
Offensively speaking, they've underperformed their xG numbers. Their last goal came over a month ago.
"Looking like a good footballing team and moving the ball about isn’t going to win us games,” was McPake's summation following their midweek exit in the League Cup at the hands of holders St Johnstone.
“It was back to the same old story, creating chances but not taking them," was the similarly toned response following defeat at Tannadice reported by The Courier.
Without the ball, StatsBomb measures Dundee as the least 'aggressive' side in the division. Meaning, they are making the least amount of tackles, pressures or fouls within two seconds of an opponent pass recipient.
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However, they are more aggressive in turnover situations, attempting the third-highest number of counterpressures per 90.
They are happy to try and win back possession high up the field but won't match that intention to the same degree when a team has a period of possession.
Dundee have varied between a 4-3-3 and a 4-1-4-1 this season, they’re yet to field the same XI in the league in consecutive matches having altered between different shapes and personnel.
McPake has already started four different forwards across their league campaign.
If Charlie Adam is fit, he'll likely play to the left of a midfield three that is anchored by Shaun Byrne.
From these areas, Adam possesses excellent delivery. Here he assists Jason Cummings' goal against Hibs.
Rangers will need to be wary that they're not outnumbered due to their narrow defensive shape in these scenarios, as Hibs are in the above example.
Leigh Griffiths also moved to Dens this summer on loan from Celtic, he along with Cummings tops the xG chart.
*stats don't include recent Dundee derby
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