Rangers begin their bid to qualify for the league phase of the Europa League as they travel to Poland to take on Jagiellonia Bialystok in the first leg of their third-round qualifying tie.
Following another trophyless season and a third-placed finish in the Premiership, Rangers allowed head coach Danny Rohl to move on to Red Bull Salzburg in the summer and swiftly replaced him with ex-Hearts boss Derek McInnes.
However, the nine-in-a-row hero failed to get off to a winning start last Friday, as the Teddy Bears could only draw 1-1 away at Dundee United in their Premiership opener – on an evening I landed a 39/40 winner.
Rangers now turn their attention to qualifying for the group stages/league phase of the Europa League for a fourth consecutive season, with the winner of this tie playing either Larne or Iberia Tbilisi in the playoff round.
To get there, they will have to navigate themselves past a Jagiellonia Bialystok side that reached the quarter-finals of the Conference League in the 2024/25 season and the playoff round last term, only narrowly losing 5-4 to Fiorentina.
Adrian Siemieniec’s hosts have also gotten off to a more positive start to their domestic campaign than their visitors, winning both of their opening two Ekstraklasa matches to sit joint-top with Legia Warsaw.
How the bookies view it: Gers favourites to progress
Rangers are favourites to progress to the playoff round, with bet365 pricing them at just 4/11 To Qualify, but are 6/5 to take back an advantage to Ibrox next Thursday.
Jagiellonia Bialystok are 2/1 to win on the night and to advance to the next stage, whilst the draw in Poland on Thursday night pays 11/5.
Head to head: First-ever meeting
Thursday evening’s clash in Bialystok will be the first-ever meeting between these two clubs.
Players to watch: Nik to nick another goal?
Nik Prelec has made an immediate impact for Jagiellonia Bialystok since arriving from Oxford United over the summer, with the Slovenian scoring in both of their Ekstraklasa victories.
However, goal-scoring markets are still yet to be released for this clash.
Predicted line-ups:
The hosts will be unable to call upon the injured Leon Flach, whilst Dusan Stojinovic is a doubt.
Rangers will be without defender Ben Godfrey due to injury, but Olwethu Makhanya is available after being granted a visa.
Jagiellonia Bialystok: Abramowicz, Wojtuszek, Vital, Kobayashi, Montoia, Conceicao, Romanczuk, Lozano, Szmyt, Balleste, Prelec
Rangers: Pandur, Sterling, Fernandez, Makhanya, Rommens, Neil, Dragojevic, Gassama, Aasgaard, Shankland, Chermiti
Anything else catch the eye?
Rangers are favourites to progress to the playoff round, but if they are to do exactly that, I feel as if they will need to rely on getting a positive result at Ibrox next week.
Rangers had a disastrous Europa League campaign last season, picking up just four points from their eight league phase matches (W1-D1-L6) – losing all four on the road – so I’m happy to back the hosts +0.25 on the Asian Handicap, meaning should the game end in a draw we will still receive a half-stakes winner.
Both Teams to Score has paid out in each of the Teddy Bears’ previous nine matches in all competitions, and a repeat pays 4/5 at bet365.
Interested in why both teams scoring is such a strong angle? Check out our Masterclass on BTTS and sharpen your match-reading game.
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