- Rangers travel to Tynecastle on Monday with their title hopes on the line
- The Gers have not lost consecutive league matches since 2018
- Rangers have only lost three matches to Hearts once in their history
The stakes cannot be higher heading into Monday evening as Rangers must win to keep their title hopes alive.
Defeat away to the league leaders would leave the Gers seven points adrift with three games remaining.
Whereas, victory would return Danny Rohl’s men to a point behind the league summit.
The match will go along way in deciding the end of Rangers’ season and according to Scotland’s Coefficient there are another two reasons why victory in this fixture is vital.
Rangers have not lost back-to-back matches in eight years
The last time Rangers suffered two straight league defeats was in the 2017/18 season, specifically between 11-17 March 2018.
The Gers, managed by Graeme Murty lost the Old Firm derby with a 3-2 home defeat to Celtic which was then followed by a 1-0 loss to Kilmarnock at Ibrox.
Indeed, Rangers losing consecutive matches is such a rarity that it has only occurred 13 times this century.
Hearts have been involved in inflicting this statistic on the Gers twice in the last 26 years with a 1-0 win on 12 May 2004 and a 2-1 victory on 3 March 2012.
This underlines how rare a run of defeats is for a club of Rangers’ stature and why breaking this eight year record must be avoided at all costs.
40 years since Rangers lost three matches in one season to Hearts
Another record which highlights the significance of this clash is Rangers have only lost three league games against Hearts in a season, once before.
That was in the 1985/86 season where a 3-0 and 3-1 defeat at Tynecastle coupled with a 2-0 loss at Ibrox helped consign the Gers to a disappointing fifth placed finish.
Hearts were also in a title race that season only to lose out on the title to Celtic due to goal difference.
The Edinburgh club have got the better of Rangers twice already this season, the 2-0 win at Ibrox in September and 2-1 victory on their own patch before Christmas.
Another defeat on Monday would see Hearts equal what would be another unwanted record for Rangers.
Read Rangers Analysis
Rangers are not just fighting to keep themselves in contention to lift the title on 16 May but also to remain on the right side of history.
Therefore, this is Rangers’ biggest match of the season.
And a win will ensure that this campaign is not remembered for all the wrong reasons.
