Dundee Utd v Rangers: Pick of the stats

This will be Derek McInnes' first competitive game as Rangers boss. The last manager to lose their first top-flight league match in charge of the club was Graeme Murty in February 2017 (2-1 v Dundee), with 11 Rangers bosses avoiding defeat in their debut since (W8 D3). McInnes has only lost one of his past 15 Scottish Premiership games against Dundee United (W8 D6), a 4-0 defeat with Kilmarnock in November 2022. This will be the first Premiership opener played on a Friday since the 2013-14 season, when Dundee United played out a goalless draw with Partick Thistle. Since and including that year, the Tangerines have drawn six of their past nine matchday one games in the competition (W1 L2), including their latest four in a row. Rangers are unbeaten in 13 league meetings with Dundee United (W9 D4) since a 1-0 defeat in August 2021 under Steven Gerrard. This will be the fifth time Dundee United have faced Rangers in the opening game of a league season, while they failed to win any of the previous four (D2 L2), most recently a 1-1 draw in 1987-88. This will be Rangers' 10th league match played in the month of July in their history. They have won eight of the previous nine, failing only in a 1-1 draw with Hearts in 2011.