The 2019/20 UEFA Europa League qualifying stage has reached the second round. The second leg of the second round ties will be played this week and on Thursday 1st August FC Niedercorn of Luxembourg will host Rangers FC of Scotland at the Stade Jos Haupert.
The Scottish club come into this second leg with the advantage having won 2-0 at Ibrox last week. It was perhaps not the size of win many of the home fans were expecting although the clean sheet could be crucial come the end of this match.
FC Niedercorn have yet to begin their domestic campaign and must wait until Sunday to kick off in the National Division. Therefore, they have played only in the Europa League to date this season, starting in the preliminary round where they defeated Welsh team Cardiff Metropolitan University on away goals.
In the first qualifying round they met Cork City of Ireland and this was another close tie, with FC Niedercorn coming through 3-2 on aggregate. They lost the home leg of that tie 2-1 but went through courtesy of a 2-0 away win in the first leg.
Trends show FC Niedercorn have lost only one of their last four home Europa League games including wins over Honved and Cardiff Metropolitan University.
However, Rangers could prove to be tougher opposition than both those teams and much like the hosts, they have yet to begin their domestic league campaign this season.
Rangers FC have only played in the Europa League qualifying rounds and started against St Joseph’s of Gibraltar. Rangers were expected to win this tie with ease and they didn’t let their fans down. Rangers won the first leg 4-0, which was away from home and completed the job thanks to a 6-0 win at home.
Away form in the Europa League is not great and trends show Rangers have won only one of their last six away games in the competition. They have been held at Maribor, Ufa and Villarreal plus lost at Spartak Moscow and Rapid Vienna. Rangers fans will also remember the 2-0 defeat at FC Niedercorn in 2017 and will be desperate to avoid a repeat of that result.
Looking ahead to the team news and FC Niedercorn are not expected to make many changes from the team which started the first leg. However, Tom Laterza is suspended following his red card in the first leg and that could mean a start for Emmanuel Francoise.
Rangers will be looking towards Alfredo Morelos to score vital away goals and he could be supported in attack by Jermaine Defoe if Steven Gerrard decides to go on the offensive.
FC Niedercorn have little choice but to try and score goals to overturn the 2-0 deficit. That could leave them open to the counter-attack. Rangers should come away with the win in a game that sees both teams scoring.
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