Rangers face Bayer Leverkusen in massive Europa League last 16 fixture
Rangers FC vs Bayer Leverkusen - 12/03/2020
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Rangers are set for a massive home fixture against Bayer Leverkusen in their Europa League last 16 first leg tie on Thursday night.
The Glasgow giants have fallen off the pace in the Scottish Premiership title race and now turn their attentions to progression in the Europa League.
Getting past Bayer Leverkusen is easier said than done. The German team are in form and will be difficult to defeated at Ibrox. Coach Peter Bosz’s team are unbeaten in nine straight games in all competitions. They are coming off of a 4-0 win over Eintracht Frankfurt in the league.
The big news surrounding the game on Thursday night is it possibly being played behind closed doors. No official announcement has been made on whether or not the game will be played with a supporter ban at the time of this writing.
UEFA is hoping to slow down the spread of the coronavirus by having Europa League and Champions League games played behind closed doors this week. A number of European matches have already seen supporters banned from attending.
Rangers manager Steven Gerrard could be without three key players for the match. Ryan Jack, Jermain Defoe, and James Tavernier are all fighting for fitness ahead of the first leg match in Glasgow.
Bosz will be missing one of his top central defenders as Sven Bender twisted his knee at the weekend. He will sit out the fixture with Jonathan Tah taking his place.
Bayer Leverkusen attacking midfielder Kai Havertz is in fine form heading into the match. Havertz, who is linked with a summer transfer to Liverpool, has nine goals and eight assists in all competitions this term. He will be a difficult player to slow down in the midfield.
Rangers have not been in great form having lost two of their last three games in all competitions. They did overcome Portugal’s Braga in the last 32 but had to come from two goals down in the first leg to win 3-2.
Top Trends
- Bayer Leverkusen are unbeaten in 9 of their last 10 Europa League games
- Rangers FC have scored 1+ goals in all of their last 9 Europa League games
- Bayer Leverkusen's most recent record of 7 consecutive games in Europa League consists of no losses
- The average number of goals scored by Rangers FC is 2.38 for their home matches in Europa League
- There have been over 2.5 goals in 4 of Bayer Leverkusen's last 5 away Europa League games
Bayer Leverkusen’s defence will be too strong for Rangers to fight back if they fall behind early on. The Germans should control the game with Rangers struggling to get a foothold. Bayer Leverkusen should have no issue getting the away goals they need.
Bosz’s team should move to 10-games unbeaten in all competitions with a win at Ibrox. The two Europa League rivals should combine for over 2.5 goals as they both find the back of the net.
Home team
Away team
Pred
Correct score
Avg. goals
Weather conditions
Coef.
Score
Live
coef.
UEL
263143
2
1 - 3
2.61
2°
2.22
3.35
3.55
2.22
1
-1
1
1 - 3(0 - 1)
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