Can Rangers Cause an Upset in Spain?
The group stages of the 2018/19 UEFA Europa League commence on Thursday night and there are some great games in prospect. One of the most intriguing sees Scottish club Rangers travel to Spain to play Villarreal.
Villarreal have built a great reputation in Spain over recent years and in 2005/06, they reached the semi-final of the Champions League. The Yellow Submarine have also reached the semi-final of the Europa League three times, the latest coming in 2015/16.
Rangers will be playing in the group stage of a European competition for the first time since 2010/11. Since then they have twice failed to qualify for the group stages of the Europa League but made no mistake this time under the guidance of Steven Gerrard.
Villarreal have made a slow start to the season, picking up their first win on the weekend. Having lost at home to Real Sociedad on the opening day of the La Liga season, Villarreal picked up a point at Sevilla before suffering a shock 1-0 home defeat against Girona.
Things improved for Javi Calleja on Sunday as Villarreal won 1-0 at Leganes but they are yet to win at home this season and will be hoping to change that record on Thursday night.
However, trends show Villarreal have not had things all their own way at the Estadio de la Cerámica in the Europa League. They have won only two of their last seven Europa League games on home soil, conceding goals in each of those games.
Rangers will be delighted to have qualified for the group stages of the Europa League having failed to do so last season. The club entered the first round of qualifying and have therefore played four ties to reach this stage of the tournament.
Rangers went undefeated in all eight of their Europa League qualifying games, drawing three and winning one of their four away ties. The Gers have also made a solid start in the Scottish Premiership this season, winning three and drawing one of their five league games to sit in fourth place.
One of the most notable aspects of Rangers playing away in the Europa League is the lack of goals. Trends show only one of their last seven away trips in the competition have seen over 2.5 goals and Rangers have failed to score in four of those games.
Looking ahead to the team news and Villarreal will be without the suspended full-back Juame Costa meaning a place at left-back for Alfonso Pedraza. Bruno Soriano and Santiago Caseres are both injured.
Rangers will be without the suspended Alfredo Morelos so Kyle Lafferty will get the nod up-front. Jon Flanagan is also suspended while Ryan Jack, Gareth McAuley and Jamie Murphy are injured
Rangers have been tough to beat away from home in the Europa League qualifiers this season but this match sees a step up in class. Do not expect to see many goals in what could be a tight game with Villarreal winning and under 2.5 goals scored.
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