RANGERS head to PSV Eindhoven with their Champions League dream still alive but they will need to repeat some of last season's European heroics to see off the dangerous Dutch side.
This play-off tie remains in the balance after a thrilling 2-2 stalemate at Ibrox in the first leg, a result that brought up two bets for our man Mark and a few of my own.
Rangers followed that up with another 2-2 draw in the SPFL Premiership away to Hibs, coughing up a stoppage-time leveller after having John Lundstram and Alfredo Morelos sent off.
That allowed Celtic to open up a two-point lead at the top 24 hours later but the disappointment of those dropped points in Edinburgh will be blown away if Giovanni van Bronckhorst can lead Gers to the golden ticket of a place in the Champions League groups.
Rangers saved some of their best performances for Europe last season as they roared to the Europa League Final, the highlight being a 4-2 win away to Borussia Dortmund.
And they will take some heart from the way Monaco came close to knocking PSV out in Eindhoven in the last round, with that tie also balanced after a draw in the first leg.
Monaco led 2-1 with just a minute to go and it took a late leveller from Erick Gutierrez to take the match to extra time before Luuk De Jong hit a dramatic winner.
It's now six games without defeat for Ruud van Nistelrooy as PSV Eindhoven gaffer and if his players repeat their first-leg display at Ibrox they will be confident of seeing off Rangers with the backing of a packed Philips Stadion.
How the bookies view it
It's no real surprise to see PSV Eindhoven as favourites given they were the better side for most of the first leg. The Dutch giants are just 21/50 at Unibet to qualify but those odds increase to 4/5 with SBK for a win on the night.
Rangers are 15/4 with Unibet for a victory in Eindhoven and 23/10 at SBK to qualify. A draw will take us into extra time and that pays 33/10 at VBet.
Head to head
Rangers have a great record against PSV Eindhoven and have lost just one of the seven previous meetings. That 1-0 defeat came at Ibrox in the Europa League in 2011 after a 0-0 draw in the Netherlands. Rangers have won on their other two trips to Eindhoven, with a 3-2 European Cup victory in 1978 followed by a 1-0 Champions League triumph in 1999 (below).
Players to watch
Some of the best chances in the first leg fell to winger Ismael Saibari and his odds for anytime scorer are longer than some of his higher-profile PSV team-mates. Paddy Power price him at 7/2 and that looks decent value.
Antonio Colak should lead the line again for Rangers with Morelos dumped from the squad due to his attitude and lack of fitness. The Croatian new boy is 12/5 at Bet365 to repeat the goal he scored in the first leg.
Anything else catch the eye?
Going for goals paid off for me in the first leg and I also cashed in by backing BTTS when Rangers headed to Easter Road at the weekend. However, backing both teams to score isn't great value here at 4/6 with William Hill and you have to go to over 3.5 goals to get to odds-against at 39/20 with Unibet.
So it might be better to look elsewhere with cards a decent option after Rangers dived into tackles at the weekend. Conor Goldson has been carded in five of his seven games this term and is a tempting 15/8 at Paddy Power for another one here.
Backing Rangers for most cards could also pay off and that's 17/20 at Unibet. The same firm have some interesting stats bets and I like the 19/20 they price on PSV Eindhoven having over 5.5 shots on target.
This UEFA Champions League match between PSV Eindhoven and Rangers will be played on Aug 24, 2022 and kick off at 20:00. Check below for our tipsters best PSV Eindhoven vs Rangers prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
I think Psv to qualify
If they play like they did in the first leg they should go through
PSV win and 2 + goals 21/20. WH
Should hopefully be a few goals based on PSV’s stats this season