SlipsTips shares a player-based selection ahead of Rangers’ clash with Tottenham Hotspur in the Europa League on Thursday night.
Rangers vs Tottenham Hotspur, (Thursday 20:00)
Both seeking to take another step towards securing qualification for the knockout round of the Europa League, Rangers and Tottenham Hotspur face off at Ibrox on Thursday night.
I’ve already penned a separate match preview ahead of this mouthwatering clash but I’m going to take this opportunity to outline in more detail the reasoning behind one of the two recommended plays that I’ve proposed.
As already mentioned in the above-linked preview, Nicolas Raskin looks attractively priced to commit a minimum of two fouls during this tussle at even-money (1/1) on Bet 365.
The Rangers midfielder has been a regular offender in this season’s Europa League, and his combative streak should be on show against Spurs on Thursday night.
In fact, Raskin has committed a team-high average of 2.80 fouls per-game in this season’s Europa League.
The Belgian midfielder committed three fouls during Rangers’ last Europa League home game with FCSB before going on to overstep the mark five and four times against both Olympiakos and Nice respectively.
Furthermore, Raskin has also frequently found himself on the referee’s radar in the Scottish Premiership this season, racking up five yellow cards across his 12 appearances thus far.
That card count has coincided with the 23-year-old averaging 1.17 fouls per 90 in the Scottish top-flight this term – which is a higher tally than that of any of his teammates at this juncture.
Drill deeper and it can be seen that Raskin has been guilty of exactly three misdemeanours in three of his previous nine outings in the Scottish Premiership.
It would be fair to say that Rangers can expect a much fiercer challenge to any of those that they have faced of late when Tottenham come to town, and that only adds to the appeal of siding with two or more fouls from Raskin.
The all-action Gers midfielder will likely be assigned a shackling job on Tottenham maverick James Maddison on Thursday night.
The classy Spurs playmaker has a handy habit of drawing fouls from the opposition, evidenced by the fact that he has been upended a combined total of 13 times across his last three Premier League starts.
Recommended Bet
- Nicolas Raskin To Commit 2+ Fouls – 1/1 (Bet 365)
Freelance Sports Writer and Betting Analyst with over five years experience. I’ve written football and darts betting content for some of the biggest betting websites and newspapers in the UK. With a strong passion for the fascinating world of Scottish football, I also regularly feature in Nutmeg, the much-loved Scottish football magazine. Falkirk season ticket holder and avid watcher of football and darts, whether it be UK-based or further afield. Feel free to follow me on X @SlipsTips
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