Kilmarnock look to strike back quickly through Eamonn Brophy who latches on to a ball up the park and strikes a volley towards the front post of the Rangers goal. Wes Foderingham is forced in to a save and Nikola Katic clears the ball.

Cammy Bell
Former Kilmarnock goalkeeper

Image source, SNS

Alan Power picks up the first booking of the game after going to ground to try and clear the loose ball in the middle of the pitch. The lunge would have been fine if he hadn't taken out Alfredo Morelos in the process.

Cammy Bell
Former Kilmarnock goalkeeper on BBC Sportsound

We're 10 minutes in to Angelo Alessio's first league game at Kilmarnock and things all look rather familiar. The home side seem more than happy to sit deep and tenaciously break Rangers down when they get too close.

Alfredo Morelos has a habit of scoring from obscure angles and he attempted just that when he got on the end of loose through ball and swung a shot towards an unsuspecting Laurențiu Branescu at the front post. The Kilmarnock goalkeeper parried the ball away for a Rangers corner.

Rangers now looking to probe the Kilmarnock defence. James Tavernier came closest with a cut inside and lob in to the six-yard box but the referee decided Alfredo Morelos was offside as he looked to get on the end of the pass.

Rory McKenzie has galvanised the home side with two darting runs through the Rangers half. The first attempt was cleaned up by Ryan Jack but the second resulted in a corner. An encouraging start for the home side.

And we're under way at Rugby Park.

Kilmarnock are in their dark blue 150th anniversary strips and Rangers are sporting their red away strips.

Rangers manager Steven Gerrard tells Sky Sports his squad is "nearly complete".

"We're happy with what we've got, we've got stronger options. Coming to places like this and getting better results will hopefully show that.

"I'm not sure if Kilmarnock will be more expansive or go back to being more compact and organised, which worked for them last season

"The players will need to work that out as early as possible and be ready for two different styles."

Ahead of today's clash against Rangers, Kilmarnock manager Angelo Alessio was adamant that there was plenty for his side to be optimistic about.

Speaking to BBC Scotland, the Killie manager said: "I'm very excited but at the same time my focus is on my team. We have worked hard over the last two weeks and I think we've prepared well for the game. After the Europa League we had two weeks to try and find the right solution and line up. I'm expecting an improvement and a good result."

So what do you do if you've preemptively booked tickets to a far-flung corner of Europe before your club has actually qualified for the next round of the Europa League?

Kilmarnock fans don't have a huge amount to be cheery about right now, however that didn't dampen the spirit of supporters that booked up tickets to Belgrade prior to the club unexpectedly getting knocked out of the Europa League by Connah's Quay Nomads.

In typical Scottish football fashion, they made the most of it anyway and headed to the pub. They might have lost their way, but at least the had fun.

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One player that isn't in today's Rangers squad is winger Glenn Middleton. The young player has been linked with a loan move away this summer to pick up game time and develop - one such club could be Premiership side Hibernian.

Speaking after his side's 1-0 win over St Mirren, Paul Heckingbottom suggested the 19-year old was a player he'd love to take to Easter Road this season.

He said: "It would be a loan, he is someone who Rangers value highly and if we can get him, we'll do our bit in terms of pushing him and trying to develop him and he'd do his bit for us with his ability and qualities he can bring."

Neil McCann
Former Scotland and Rangers winger on BBC Sportsound

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Stuart McCall played in the Rangers side that won nine-in-a-row; a feat Celtic are looking to match this season.

"There will be huge pressure on Celtic to deliver," the former Scotland international tells BBC Sportsound.

"There will be twists and turns and it's about character. Yes, they might be good footballers but can they take a bit of flak when things don't go their way?

"What we saw in that season (when Rangers' run of titles ended in 1997-98) was the difference in the Celtic squad. They got more of a team bond and I see signs at Rangers now that they've moulded a togetherness."

Tom English
BBC Scotland's chief sports writer

Image source, BBC Sport

Ahead of today's clash at Rugby Park BBC Scotland chief sports writer, Tom English, ran through the many factors that have to be considered when fans talk about a title challenge from Rangers. Here's a little taster of that article - which you can read in full right here.

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Kilmarnock's plastic pitch is often a contentious topic for rival fans but it seems as though today's pitch will be shorter and narrower than it was in the club's Europa League qualifying matches.

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Steven Gerrard will be hopeful of kicking off the new league season with a win but he'll also be wary of the problems his Rangers side faced at Rugby Park last season.

In four attempts, Rangers picked up just one win over the Ayrshire side on their own turf. Gerrard's team did settle for a 0-0 draw in the Scottish Cup, but they lost both Premiership clashes at the stadium 2-1. In fact, Kilmarnock have lost only one of their past nine league meetings with Rangers and are unbeaten in four.

Ahead of today's game Gerrard did acknowledge the possibility of dropping points to Kilmarnock. Speaking to the media on Friday, he said: "In an ideal situation we can get the three points but if we don't get a result it's not the end of the world and we'll keep fighting to improve."

We're only one match day in to the new Scottish Premiership season but Celtic - and Ryan Christie in particular - have already hit the ground running. The young midfielder bagged a hat trick against St Johnstone and already has six goals to his name in just five games.

Speaking to BBC Scotland after the 7-0 win over St Johnstone, Christie said: "I set my goals target at the start of the season, but I'll keep that to myself."