Rohl can drop Diomande by unleashing Rangers’ very own Claudio Braga v Hearts

Glasgow Rangers have a huge match in the Scottish Premiership title race as they travel to Tynecastle to take on league leaders Hearts on Monday evening.

A win for the Light Blues would take them to within one point of first place with three matches still left to play, but a defeat would virtually end their title hopes.

The fate of their 2025/26 campaign is essentially riding on this one match, because it feels like a make-or-break game for Danny Rohl and his men.

In order to claim the three points that they need from the Jam Tarts, though, the Gers have to find a way to keep their attacking players quiet.

Hearts have several impressive forwards who could cause serious damage to the Rangers defence, including Portuguese star Claudio Braga.

How Rangers can keep Claudio Braga quiet

The 26-year-old star has been sensational for Hearts this season, scoring 17 goals in 40 appearances in all competitions, and produced a goal and an assist against the Gers in February.

As effective as Braga has been as a goalscorer for his club this season, the Portuguese attacker is no stranger to a poor performance and does have weaknesses that Rangers could exploit.

The right-footed forward loses the majority of his physical duels on the pitch and is prone to losing possession regularly each match, which suggests that the Light Blues could force him into turnovers by putting a physical player on him.

Tochi Chukwuani, for example, has won 57% of his ground duels this season and could be the ideal pick to man-mark Braga to nullify his threat with physical play that the Hearts star is not great at dealing with.

Whilst Rangers could keep the attacker quiet by using physicality to silence him, Rohl could also unleash his own version of the Premiership superstar.

£3.5m Rangers star could be Danny Rohl’s own Claudio Braga

Mohamed Diomande came off the bench to assist Youssef Chermiti’s goal against Motherwell last time out, but the German head coach must boldy bench him to start his own Braga.

The Ivorian midfielder has been an unused substitute in three of the last six games and has not started a league game since the 11th February, which suggests that it would be a risk to throw him in from the start for this match.

Instead, Thelo Aasgaard must be unleashed once again as one of the number ten options behind Chermiti and Bojan Miovski, in a similar role to the one Braga plays with Lawrence Shankland and Pierre Kabore.

The £3.5m signing from Luton Town last summer has started the last four Premiership matches for Rangers, and was one of the few impressive performers against Motherwell, creating four chances and winning three of his four duels.

Aasgaard has been in and out of the team at times since his move to Ibrox, but a return of six goals and five assists in 44 appearances in all competitions this season is far from a horrendous return for his first season in Scotland.

The Norway international has scored five goals from 4.62 xG and provided four assists from five ‘big chances’ created in 19 league starts for Rangers, which averages out at a goal or an assist every 2.1 starts.

Braga, meanwhile, averages a goal or an assist every two appearances in the Premiership for Hearts, with 14 goals and three assists in 34 matches.

Aasgaard, like Braga, is capable of playing as a number ten or as a centre-forward, and operates at his best in pockets of space between the midfield and the defence, but he has not been as consistent as the Hearts star has been in the final third.

The Norwegian talent has produced one goal and two assists in his last four starts, though, whilst Braga only has two goals and no assists in his last five matches in the league.

Aasgaard comes into this game in better form than the Portuguese star, therefore, and that is why Rohl must leave Diomande, despite his assist, on the bench to continue to start the former Luton man in the ten role.

If Rangers can keep Braga quiet and get the ball to Aasgaard in enough dangerous positions to make an impact, Rohl’s push for a league title in his first season at Ibrox may continue.