RANGERS Champions League qualifier with Malmo is on a knife-edge heading into the return leg at Ibrox on Tuesday night.
Steven Davis handed the Light Blues a lifeline as he scored a last-gasp goal in the 2-1 defeat in Sweden last midweek.
That means this tie is delicately poised ahead of Tuesday night's second-leg showdown in Glasgow, on a night where Steven Gerrard's side are set to be roared on by a raucous sell-out crowd.
That said, Rangers preparations for this crunch qualifier were far from ideal after their Scottish Premiership 40-game unbeaten run was brought to a shuddering halt by Dundee United on Saturday.
Malmo, meanwhile, saw their three-game winning streak in the Swedish Allsvenskan come to an end on Saturday, as they were held to a 0-0 draw at Halmstad.
John Dahl Tomasson rested no fewer than seven key players from last midweeks first-leg meeting, but the Malmo manager will almost certainly recall his big-hitters for this make-or-break clash.
Outright Betting
Rangers have failed to topple Malmo in three meetings but the Teddy Bears are red-hot favourites to exact revenge at Ibrox, with a home in normal time trading at 1/2 with William Hill.
Despite last week's first leg triumph, Malmo are massive 9/2 underdogs with Unibet while the draw is also deemed unlikely at 16/5 with BetVictor.
Betting Angles
Rangers look a bit short at 1/2 (William Hill) but I'll boost that to 5/6 by throwing under 4.5 goals into the equation.
The stakes couldn't be higher ahead of this do-or-die dust-up and given the immense pressure that will be on both sides, I suspect goals could be in short supply.
Indeed, Rangers will have to go for broke at some point here, but they also need to keep the back door shut too, so both sides could err on the side of caution.
Having said that, I still fancy Rangers to edge this encounter at a capacity Ibrox, not to mention Gerrard's Gers didn't lose in Europe last season until the second leg of their last 16 tie with Slavia Prague.
Malmo, on the other hand, only managed draws away at Riga and HJK in the previous qualifying rounds, whereas a trip to Govan will represent a serious upgrade on those challenges.
With all that in mind, coupled with Rangers excelling at home and abroad last term, I'm happy to back the Teddy Bears to bounce back here in a match that features fewer than five match strikes.
I'll also dip into the goalscorer market where Rangers midfielder Joe Aribo is perhaps worth a speculative punt at 7/2 with McBookie to score anytime.
Aribo, a mainstay of Rangers Scottish title-winning side, is capable of producing real moments of magic and the 7/2 (McBookie) on the classy playmaker to notch looks a lovely price.
This UEFA Champions League match between Rangers and Malmo will be played on Aug 10, 2021 and kick off at 20:00. Check below for our tipsters best Rangers vs Malmo prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.