Rangers should travel to Fir Park with confidence considering they are unbeaten there in 10 visits since that famous Premiership play-off loss in May 2015 - and enjoyed a thumping 6-1 victory there in October.

However, either side of that, Graham Alexander's side have already dented Rangers' title hopes with two draws at Ibrox and get the chance to do so again thanks to a late equaliser away to Livingston last time out that kept them in the top six.

Thumbs up if you think Motherwell can claim a first win over Rangers in 13 meetings since 2017. Thumbs down for an away victory.

Rangers arrive on a high and after a well-earned rest following two exhausting extra-time wins - over Braga to reach the Europa League semi-finals and Celtic to make the Scottish Cup final.

It means that, after a first-leg defeat in Braga followed by a league loss to Celtic, Giovanni van Bronckhorst's side have recovered with three straight wins and have the chance to narrow the gap at the top to three points before their city rivals visit Ross County on Sunday.

Rangers' preparations have been hampered by the loss not only of on-loan Juventus midfielder Aaron Ramsey to injury after their Scottish Cup semi-final win over Celtic but Kemar Roofe, who has scored four times in three games as an able deputy to the crocked Alfredo Morelos.

No player has scored more away goals in this season's Premiership, the Jamaica striker finding the net seven times despite only five starts and five substitute appearances on the road.

The 29-year-old is averaging a goal every 74 minutes away from home in the league this season - the best ratio of any player with more than one goal on the road in the division.

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Of course, the early kick-off came about because the Scottish Professional Football League acceded to Rangers' request for an extra day to prepare for Thursday's Europa League semi-final first leg against RB Leipzig in Germany.

Motherwell were on board with the request, but manager Graham Alexander was left "frustrated" that it took until Tuesday to make a decision and he "had to prepare as if we were playing on both days, which was difficult".

Graham Alexander makes two changes to the Motherwell side that secured a top-six place in dramatic fashion at Livingston a fortnight ago.

Influential striker Kevin van Veen is missing through suspension and defender Solholm Johansen also drops out the squad.

In come Irish forward Ross Tierney and Finland centre-back Juhani Ojala.

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Only defenders James Tavernier, Connor Goldson and Borna Barisic keep their places in Giovanni van Bronckhorst's Rangers XI following last weekend's Scottish Cup semi-final win over Celtic.

On-loan Juventus midfielder Aaron Ramsey and striker Kemar Roofe miss out through injury, while goalkeeper Jon McLaughlin, Calvin Bassey, Ryan Jack, John Lundstram, Joe Aribo and Ryan Kent drop to the bench.

Allan McGregor comes back in goal, with Leon Balogun, Steven Davis, Glen Kamara, Scott Arfield, Scott Wright, Fashion Sakala and on-loan Manchester United winger Amad Diallo also returning.

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Motherwell: Kelly, Mugabi, Lamie, Ojala, Carroll, Cornelius, Goss, Slattery, Tierney, Efford, Shields.

Substitutes: Fox, Connelly, Woolery, O'Hara, Shaw, Amaluzor, Donnelly, Grimshaw, Nirennold.

Rangers: McGregor, Tavernier, Goldson, Balogun, Barisic, Davis, Kamara, Arfield, Wright, Diallo, Sakala.

Substitutes: McLaughlin, Bassey, King, Lundstram, Jack, Aribo, Sands, Itten, Kent.

Right, let's get straight to those team lines from Fir Park...

Welcome to the first weekend after the Scottish Premiership split into two, with the final five sets of fixtures settling the title race, European places and automatic relegation.

First up at high noon, Rangers look to narrow the six-point gap with leaders Celtic as they visit Euro-chasing Motherwell.

At a more traditional 15:00, attention turns to the bottom six, with the game of the day being at Dens Park as Dundee host St Johnstone in a battle of the bottom two, while there's still plenty to play for in the Championship, League 1 and League 2.

Stay with us for the build-up, live commentary and post-match reaction on what will be a long, potentially thrilling day online and on BBC Radio Scotland.

Image source, SNS