Rangers will look to overturn a one-goal deficit on Thursday night as they welcome Jagiellonia Bialystok to Ibrox in the second leg of their Europa League third-round tie.
Legendary ex-Rangers manager Walter Smith once said that you’re only ever three games from a crisis at Rangers, and that sounds right given their start to the season.
Rangers actually made the perfect start in Poland in the first leg last week as they took an early lead, but the Teddy Bears swiftly conceded two poor goals to lose 2-1 – on an evening both of my selections landed.
Derek McInnes’s winless start as Rangers boss would extend to three matches on Sunday, as they conceded in stoppage time to lose 1-2 at home to Hibs in the Scottish Premiership, leaving them on just one point after two matches – on an afternoon I landed a 10/11 winner.
That first-leg win in Poland last week made it three consecutive wins to begin the season for Adrian Siemieniec’s visitors.
However, Jagiellonia Bialystok suffered their first defeat of the campaign on Sunday as they were beaten 0-2 at home in the league to Widzew Lodz.
How the bookies view it: Rangers slight favourites to progress
Despite trailing the tie by a single goal, Rangers are slight favourites to advance to the playoff round, with bet365 pricing them at 4/5 To Qualify, whilst the win inside 90 minutes is just 8/15.
Jagiellonia Bialystok are 19/20 to protect their one-goal advantage in Glasgow on Thursday night, but they are 4/1 outsiders to win on the night.
Head to head: Second-ever meeting
Last week’s 2-1 victory for Jagiellonia Bialystok was the first-ever meeting between these two clubs.
Players to watch: Szymt to strike again?
Kajetan Szymt was the hero for Jagiellonia Bialystok in the first leg last week, as he scored both goals in that 2-1 victory.
The Polish winger already has an assist to his name this season, but there are currently no goal-scorer markets available.
Predicted line-ups:
Rangers will be without Ben Godfrey, Tuur Rommens and Youssef Chermiti due to injury.
Rangers: Pandur, Dragojevic, Fernandez, Makhanya, Sterling, Devlin, Raskin, Gassama, Aasgaard, Shankland, Naderi
Jagiellonia Bialystok: Abramowicz, Wojtuszek, Konstantopoulos, Kobayashi, Montoia, Conceicao, Romanczuk, Lozano, Szmyt, Balleste, Prelec
Anything else catch the eye?
Both Teams to Score has paid out in each of Rangers’ last 11 matches in all competitions – and given how suspect both of these sides have been defensively – I expect that trend to continue in Govan on Thursday night.
What’s more, Both Teams to Score has paid out in four of Jagiellonia Bialystok’s previous five continental clashes on their travels, which only adds to the appeal.
Interested in why both teams scoring is such a strong angle? Check out our Masterclass on BTTS and sharpen your match-reading game.
Over 2.5 Goals has paid out in 10 of Rangers’ last 11 matches in all competitions at Ibrox, and a repeat also appeals at 8/11 at bet365.
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