UEFA Europa League: Glasgow Rangers vs. Standard Liege, Preview, Odds, Prediction

Glasgow Rangers are one step away from securing the knockout stage, and all they need to do is defeat Standard Liege in Round 5 of the Europa League competition. With 8 points, Steven Gerrard’s side is tied at Group D’s top spot with Benfica, while Standard and Lech Poznan have three points each. This is going to be a hard battle between two sides who are in a must-win position. The Belgians need to win, too, to keep some chances of reaching the next stage. Therefore, we expect a ferocious battle at the legendary Ibrox Park.

Preview

Glasgow Rangers (-260) haven’t lost since the start of this campaign and are looking superb. Gerrard put together one fantastic team, and the Gers have a nice chance to earn big money once the transfer window starts and make notable results on the international stage and back home.

What characterizes this unit is an impregnable defense. Rangers often concede goals, and for example, in the last 11 matches, they have nine clean sheets. A draw against Benfica, 2-2, was the first event in which the Gers allowed a goal at Ibrox following six straight home contests.

When mentioning matches at home, the Rangers haven’t lost one since March 12, posting 12 consecutive victories until the Benfica match. Now, check this data, during that stretch, Gerrard’s boys had 11 clean sheets.

Standard Liege (+600) slightly improved its form compared to the performances before the international break, but they still are way below the expected level of play. The team from Liege hasn’t lost in four straight, but managed to record just one win during that time.

It was against Lech in the Europa League, 2-1, extending their hopes of reaching the next stage. What is problematic in that plan, are Standard’s recent matches on the road, with Philippe Montanier’s guys not winning five straight.

They would pretty routinely lose against Benfica and Lech, allowing three goals in each of those matches. Moderate efficiency is the most frequent outcome when Standard hits the road, with seven of their last 10 away games seeing 2 or 3 scores.

Latest News

Edmundson and Jones are suspended and won’t play tonight. Katic and Zungu are injured.

The guests have a long list of absent players. Oulare is out due to the red card, and the next players are all injured – Amallah, Avenatti, Balikwisha, Boljevic, Carcela-Gonzalez, Sylvestre, and Vanheusden.

Head to Head Matches

Rangers defeated Standard in the first leg, 0-2, with the guests scoring a goal in each half. James Tavernier converted a penalty after 19 minutes of play, and Kemar Roofe sealed the victory in the third minute of the stoppage time.

Prediction

The odds on the Gers’ victory are less and less profitable, as the bookies understand that Gerrard’s boys are massive favorites. Right now, their triumph is priced at -260, but that will be even lower as time goes by. You can go with that, but for those who want higher profits, Rangers to win with -1.5 goals handicap is +110, and they should be able to perform this without a problem.