Union Saint-Gilloise face stiff Rangers test in UCL third qualifying round first leg
Union Saint-Gilloise vs Rangers FC - 02/08/2022
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Belgium’s Union Saint-Gilloise (USG) will face off with Scottish Premiership club Rangers in the Champions League third qualifying round.
The two teams will kick off the first leg on Tuesday in the Forest municipality of Brussels. Remarkably, USG finished second last season in the Belgium Pro League after achieving promotion to the top flight in 2020-21.
Now, in their second consecutive season in the Belgian top flight, Union have the chance of reaching the Champions League group stage. USG will have to defeat last season’s Europa League runners-up, Rangers, over two legs to reach the Champions League group stage.
Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s team had a magical run to the Europa League final last term. Unfortunately for the Blues, they lost on penalties to Eintracht Frankfurt in the final match.
Van Bronckhorst will be confident of Rangers reaching the group stage of the Champions League after having a first preseason to work with the club. The Dutch manager only joined Rangers in November 2021 after Steven Gerrard left for Aston Villa.
Tuesday’s match will be the first-ever meeting between Union and Rangers. Both teams have started their domestic campaigns and both have some form to offer.
USG are slightly ahead of Rangers in terms of domestic football. Union have played twice picking up four points from six in the Pro League. Royale are coming off of a 1-0 win at the weekend versus Sporting Charleroi.
Simon Adingra and Ross Sykes have done the scoring for USG in the Pro League. Royale have scored two goals and conceded once in their two matches.
Rangers kicked off their domestic campaign at the weekend with a 2-1 win against Livingston.
The Blues conceded a fifth-minute goal but came back with two goals in the final 18 minutes to pick up the win. Scott Arfield and James Tavernier scored the goals for Rangers.
Van Bronckhorst is without midfielder Ianis Hagis due to a serious knee injury. Nnamdi Ofoborh is also suffering from an injury and could miss out. Kemar Roofe has a knock and is a doubt to make the squad.
Rangers’ new signings Ben Davies, Ridvan Yilmaz, and Tom Lawrence are all in line to make their first starts.
Meanwhile, USG could be without defenders Ismael Kandouss and Koki Machida due to injuries. Forward Dennis Eckert Ayensa is nursing a muscle problem and could sit out the game.
Union will likely use a 3-5-2 formation to counteract Rangers’ 4-3-3 formation. Expect the Belgians to attempt to make the most of playing at home in the first leg.
Home team
Away team
Pred
Correct score
Avg. goals
Weather conditions
Coef.
Score
Live
coef.
UCL
412435
1
2 - 1
2.56
27°
2.70
2.70
3.40
2.55
no
no
no
2 - 0(1 - 0)
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