Pressure on Martin, Iheanacho to fore & Thelin feeling heat – Premiership Picks

There was limited Scottish Premiership action last weekend due to the Premier Sports Cup quarter-finals, but a belter of a full bill is set to play across the next two days.

After their Europa League games in midweek, Celtic and Rangers are back on the field, while others are chomping at the bit to regain control after a weekend break.

This shouldn’t be the weekend game in the traditional way, but Rangers is far from it.

And a physical game against a calculating team led by a wacky manager is the last thing Russell Martin and his players need.

In the Europa League defeat against Genk on Thursday, they lost fourth to them, and now the Ibrox side, who are second from bottom in the standings, tries to recover their first league win of the season.

In their worst league start in 48 years, Martin’s side is one point ahead of their West Lothian opponents despite having played fewer games.

The Rangers’ joint-longest run in their entire history (at the same level as six other runs of six, most recently in December 2005), have allowed them to win six league games (D5 L1).

It’s also not a case of being unlucky. The acting was subpar, and Martin seems to be losing some of his self-assurance in the “fantas will flip” mantra.

Rangers may only have a match-day six, but this falls under the “must win” category.

In all competitions (D1), they have won nine of their previous ten games at Livingston, including the most recent six in a row. In fact, they have lost 21 of their previous meetings.

However, David Martindale’s side has nothing to lose, as they always do with this kind of fixture.

Kelechi Iheanacho has had a massive impact at Celtic with three games, two goals, and one assist.

The Nigeria international was ruled out of Thursday’s Europa League opener against Red Star Belgrade. But he has undoubtedly sealed his place in Saturday’s starting lineup at home to Hibs with his comeback from the bench to start the 1-1 draw.

When Daizen Maeda was inserted into the middle of the second half, Celtic lacked the focal point that Daizen Maeda had in the first half, but the difference was obvious when manager Brendan Rodgers introduced his former Leicester City striker for the second half.

The 28-year-old made three shots, all of which were on target, and made seven accurate passes out of eight, demonstrating his ability to link up play. Three of those were made by the hosts’ box, with the other three coming from the hosts’ box.

That was also evident in last week’s 4-0 Premier Sports quarter-final victory at Partick Thistle when he set up and exchanged with Sebastian Tounekti for his goal.

Due to the fan outcry at Celtic’s transfer window and their failure to reach the Champions League, Iheanacho’s release early this month was somewhat underwhelming.

This season, it seems like Jimmy Thelin has the most attention.

The Aberdeen manager, who won the Scottish Cup, said he needs to “find answers quickly” to stop the alarming start to the season, which has resulted in four league defeats and a draw in five games without a goal.

Add to that a League Cup defeat to Motherwell, the team’s hosts on Saturday, and you have a grim day at Pittodrie.

Fans chanted “you’re getting sacked in the morning” to Thelin, who claimed the club is “rock bottom” during the midweek defeat at Dundee United.

Aberdeen’s defenseman Mats Knoester advised the squad to “look in the mirror and do better,” adding that it was “a bit crazy to say the manager is to blame.”