Gerrard's Rangers open against Aberdeen, Celtic host Livingston

(Reuters) - New Rangers manager Steven Gerrard will kick off his tenure in the Scottish Premiership away at Aberdeen on Aug. 5, a day before Celtic begin their title defence against newly-promoted Livingston.

Gerrard, who took over from Graeme Murty on a four-year deal last month, will get his first taste of the Old Firm derby when he visits his former manager Brendan Rodgers at Celtic Park on Sept. 1.

The former Liverpool captain will look to have a crack at Celtic's recent dominance, which yielded seven straight titles including a record-breaking second successive domestic treble last season.

Rangers have won a record 54 Scottish league titles but are struggling to recover from the financial problems that saw them reformed in the bottom tier of Scottish football in 2012.

Aberdeen, who finished runners-up for the last four seasons, will face title rivals Celtic on Sept. 29.

(Reporting By Arnab Paul in Bengaluru; Editing by Amlan Chakraborty)