Premiership preview: Form strikers in focus and will Rangers respond?

A Saturday night sojourn to Dens Park ended in minor disappointment for Rangers last weekend, with their 2-1 lead short-lived.The 2-2 draw maintained a unbeaten run for Derek McInnes' side but brought an end to a sequence of seven straight wins.The real cost, though, was ground lost on Celtic, who opened up a four-point lead at the top by trouncing Hearts 7-1 on Sunday.A long seven days later, Rangers are back at home to face promoted St Johnstone for the first time in 21 months with several players suffering from a sickness bug.The last time the Perth side visited, they were three down by the break and got one back in the second period, continuing a run of Ibrox losses to seven in a row.However, like Dundee, Saints have started the season well, sitting fifth.Simo Valakari has managed three times against Rangers as St Johnstone boss and is still looking for his first point.Achieving such a feat on Saturday would not only bolster that positive start to the season, it would like cause further ripples in the still very early Scottish Premiership title race.Thursday's defeats for Celtic and Hearts further illustrated Scotland's falling stock on the European stage.With Celtic, their three defeats in a row in the Europa League is in stark contrast to the beginning of their Premiership defence, with only three points dropped so far.Hammering last season's runners-up Hearts only re-emphasised how difficult it will be for anyone else to win the league this term.Struggling Hibernian host Martin O'Neill's side on Sunday, with new Easter Road manager Marink Reedijk having lost his first two games in charge and seeking to halt a run of six Premiership games without a win, during which time there has been just one draw.The Easter Road outfit, have spent the highest proportion of their match time losing this season (49.7%).Celtic may be disappointed off the back of Thursday's 2-1 defeat by Celta Vigo, but Hibs have the much more daunting task.The same is true of Motherwell. Five losses on the bounce have brought a degree of pressure on manager Alfred Johansson after an otherwise bright start to the season.Visitors Hearts have themselves gone four away from home without a win and have won two in 10 on the road this season in all competitions.However, the Tynecastle side are seven unbeaten against Well, although three of their four meetings last season were draws and their latest three visits have also ended level.The big question for Wouter Vrancken's side is, how do they respond to Sunday's heavy defeat at Celtic Park and the 2-0 Conference League loss away to Trabzonspor?