RANGERS travel to Cyprus in the Europa League after a traumatic week which has seen them axe the hapless Michael Beale and replace him with interim manager and club legend Steven Davis.
Beale had already lost the fans and their dismal 3-1 home defeat to Aberdeen – a team they should be beating according to the ex-manager – spelled the end for the former QPR boss who seemed to be out of his depth and recruited appallingly.
Yet in this competition, unlike in the league, he has at least left whoever gets the job in a decent position after an opening game win against Real Betis, which was one of the very few high spots of his tenure.
If Rangers can follow that up against Cypriot champions Aris Limassol, they will be in a very strong position to qualify.
However, Aris are no mugs. They ran experienced European campaigners Sparta Prague close in the opening game and only lost 3-2 in the Czech capital.
They are managed by Belarussian coach Aleksey Shpilevsky, but have work to do this season after a weekend derby defeat to Apollon Limassol and they are only in fourth spot after six games so far in the league.
How the bookies view it
Despite Rangers' problems, they are still odds-on favourites here at 10/11 with 10Bet.
Aris can be backed at 16/5 with Coral and the draw is 11/4 with William Hill.
Recent head to heads
The clubs have never met before.
Players to watch
Aleksandr Kokorin is a midfielder on loan from Fiorentina and takes the penalties. He converted one in the Czech Republic in the first game. He is 9/4 with Paddy Power to score anytime.
Abdallah Sima has shown glimpses he might be ok for Rangers this season, unlike plenty of their other recruits. The on loan Brighton ace netted Rangers' consolation against Aberdeen and is 5/2 to score anytime with UniBet.
Anything else catch the eye?
This is going to be a fascinating watch to see what Davis does to this team of underachievers. But there's every chance he could get a new manager bounce and they might actually play for him. It's worth backing Rangers here.
However, Rangers have major problems defensively as Aberdeen showed when they rattled in three against them. With Aris scoring twice in their first game, they can add to the goal tally at 21/10 with BetVictor for over 3.5 goals which has a chance.
You wonder if Rangers might revert to the width they showed last season where they were usually a good bet to produce corners. There were 17 corners in their first game against Real Betis and 15 in Aris' match at Sparta Prague, so over 9.5 corners at 20/21 with Boylesports seems to have a great chance.
This UEFA Europa League match between Aris Limassol and Rangers will be played on Oct 5, 2023 and kick off at 17:45. Check below for our tipsters best Aris Limassol vs Rangers prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
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