RANGERS take a break from their Scottish Premiership title defence with a Europa League last-32 tie against Borussia Dortmund on Thursday evening.
The Teddy Bears progressed to the knockout stages of Europe's secondary club competition for the third successive season after finishing runners-up in Group A, behind French heavyweights Lyon.
Since then, the Gers have been knocked off their perch by fierce rivals Celtic but they have responded with three wins on the spin, the most recent of which was a comfortable 3-0 Scottish Cup success at Annan.
Giovanni van Bronckhorst and his side will now turn their attention to their Europa League glamour game with Borussia Dortmund.
Having disappointingly dropped down from the Champions League, the German giants are now general 6/1 favourites to lift the Europa League trophy in May.
Marco Rose's men bounced back from a 5-2 mauling against Bayer Leverkusen with a 3-0 win at Union Berlin last time out, closing the gap on Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich to six points in the process.
Outright Betting
Borussia Dortmund, who have won 12 of their 15 home games this season, are red-hot 3/7 (SBK) favourites to record a first-leg lead ahead of next week's return match in Glasgow.
Rangers are winless in each of their last six European road trips and the bookies' odds suggest that run will continue, with the Scottish champions 37/5 (SBK) outsiders while the stalemate has been priced up at 39/10 (SBK).
Betting Angles
You're not going to get rich siding with Borussia Dortmund at the aforementioned odds but backing both teams to score looks a more appealing alternative at 13/15 (SBK).
With a wealth of attacking talent at their disposal and a backline that regularly offer up chances to their opponents, Dortmund games are rarely dull and I see no reason that will stop here.
Marco Rose's men have made the net bulge in 29 of their 31 outings across all competitions this season so far, notching twice or more in sizeable 21 fixtures from that sample.
That said, BVB have not exactly been watertight at the back this term, with the hosts posting a paltry six shutouts in 31 attempts to date, so Rangers could make their mark in Germany’s North Rhine-Westphalia region.
The Light Blues have only failed to score once since Giovanni van Bronckhorst took the reins in Govan and they could have the tools to carve out opportunities against a leaky Borussia backline.
With that in mind, coupled with the fact Rangers are without a clean sheet on the road in the Scottish Premiership since the winter break, backing both teams to score at 13/15 (SBK) looks worthy of some interest at the Westfalenstadion.
I'll also dip into the player card market and take Rangers right-back James Tavernier to be carded at 5/1 with Bet 365.
The Ibrox skipper has been cautioned in three of his last six appearances for the Gers and he looks worth getting with again here at an eye-catching price given the calibre of opposition.
This UEFA Europa League match between Borussia Dortmund and Rangers will be played on Feb 17, 2022 and kick off at 17:45. Check below for our tipsters best Borussia Dortmund vs Rangers prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
