Rangers will look to seal their place in the quarter-finals of the Europa League as they welcome Turkish giants Fenerbahce to Ibrox on Thursday night in the second leg of their last-16 tie.
Given their poor form domestically and the fact Fenerbahce were in the midst of an 18-match unbeaten run, not many, including myself, fancied Rangers to secure a first-leg advantage in Istanbul last Thursday.
However, once again, The Gers put in another magnificent performance in Europe’s secondary competition, as they defeated the Turkish giants 1-3.
Cyriel Dessers' early strike was cancelled out by an acrobatic strike from early substitute Alexander Djiku on the half-hour mark, but a double from winger Vaclav Cerny meant Rangers left Istanbul with a two-goal advantage.
Barry Ferguson’s hosts have now lost just one of their previous seven Europa League contests (W4-D2-L1) – that stoppage time loss at Old Trafford on MD7 in the league phase – and will be confident of seeing the job through against a Fenerbahce side that has won just one of their last six European encounters on their travels (W1-D3-L2).
How the bookies view it: Bookies unable to split them
The bookmakers are finding it tough to split the sides, with BoyleSports pricing Rangers at 7/5 to repeat their win in Turkey last week, whilst Jose’s visitors are 11/8 with the same firm.
The same firm has a draw at 11/4.
Head to head: History on Gers side?
These two sides last met in the 2001/02 season, and whilst Fenerbahce defeated Rangers 2-1 on aggregate, it was a goalless draw when the sides met at Ibrox, and a similar outcome would be welcome for the hosts.
Players to watch: Nice one Cyriel?
Cyriel Dessers has scored four goals in his three appearances for Rangers since Barry Ferguson took over and was very unfortunate to get a further two goals ruled out by VAR in Istanbul last week.
Moroccan striker Youssef En-Nesyri is Fenerbahce’s leading scorer this season with 25 goals in all competitions, with the Ex-Sevilla man netting in three of his last four European appearances.
Probable line-ups
Leon Balogun will hopefully come in from the start following Robin Propper’s nasty-looking head injury last week.
Jose Mourinho will be without the likes of Diego Carlos, Rodrigo Becau, Ismail Yuksek and Caglar Soyuncu due to injury, but the Ex-Manchester United midfielder is back from suspension.
Rangers: Butland, Yilmaz, Tavernier, Balogun, Souttar, Jefte, Raskin, Barron, Diomande, Cerny, Dessers
Fenerbahce: Egribayat, Akcicek, Skriniar, Amrabat, Muldur, Fred, Szymanski, Kostic, Tadic, En-Nesryi, Dzeko
Anything else catch the eye?
I correctly backed goals in the first leg last week, and with Both Teams to Score & Over 2.5 Goals priced up at 10/11 with BoyleSports, I’m happy to back a repeat in Glasgow on Thursday.
Rangers’s opening nine Europa League contests this campaign have averaged 3.33 goals per game, with Both Teams to Score banking in each of their last six and seven of their past eight, whilst six of their previous eight have seen three or more goals.
Fenerbahce’s opening 15 European clashes this season have averaged 3.07 goals per game, with Both Teams to Score paying out in an impressive 12 (80%) of them, whilst 10 (67%) have seen a minimum of three strikes, including 6/7 (86%) of them away from home.
This UEFA Europa League match between Rangers and Fenerbahce will be played on and kick off at 20:00. Check below for our tipsters best Rangers vs Fenerbahce prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
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