Rangers host Galatasaray with Europa League place at stake

Rangers FC vs Galatasaray SK - 01/10/2020

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Rangers host Galatasaray at Ibrox on Thursday, with both sides bidding to qualify for the 2020/21 UEFA Europa League.

The Scottish side have done well to reach this stage, but the visit of the Turkish giants will undoubtedly be their toughest test yet.

Rangers’ campaign kicked off with a 5-0 thrashing of Lincoln Red Imps in the second qualifying round, before Steven Gerrard’s men hammered Willem II 4-0 in the previous round.

Domestically, Rangers have also been flying. The Gers sit stop of the Scottish premiership after nine games, with seven wins and two draws to their name.

Remarkably, Rangers have scored a whopping 22 league goals – an average of just under 2.5 goals per game – and have only conceded three.

When it comes to the Europa League, Rangers have lost just three of their previous 20 games and have won seven of their last nine on home soil.

Galatasaray also entered the Europa League qualifiers in the second round, beating Neftci 3-1 to advance to the third round.

Last time out, the Turkish side beat Croatian outfit Hajduk Split 2-0, thanks to late goals from Younes Balhanda and Ryan Babel.

Galatasaray have only played three domestic games so far this season, but they remain unbeaten and currently sit third in the Turkish Super Lig.

The Yellow-Reds began with victories over Gaziantep (3-1) and defending champions Istanbul Basaksehir (2-0), before recording a goalless draw with fierce rivals Fenerbahce.

Veteran Colombian striker Radamel Falcao is leading the way for Galatasaray this season, with three goals in three appearances in all competitions.

Head-to-head: These two sides last met all the way back in the 2000/01 edition of the Champions League, and Galatasaray managed to avoid defeat in both legs.

The teams played out a goalless draw in the first leg, before Galatasaray secured a 3-2 victory back in Turkey.

Team news: Rangers will be without injured trio Nikola Katic (cruciate ligament rupture), Joe Aribo (ankle) and Ryan Jack (calf) for Thursday’s clash.Galatasaray could be without four players, with Fernando Muslera, Emre Akbaba, Marcelo Saracchi and Arda Turan all injury doubts for the visitors.

This game is likely to go down to the wire. Both sides will be desperate to qualify for the Europa League group stage, so this should be a tense affair with limited goalscoring opportunities.

Forebet predicts that the score will be level after 90 minutes. A low-scoring draw is expected, with extra-time and penalties likely to decide this one.

Home team
Away team

Probability %

1X2

Pred

Correct score

Avg. goals

Weather conditions

Coef.

Score

Live
coef.

UEL

Rangers FC Galatasaray SK 01/10/2020 20:45

354817

X

1 - 1

1.88

7°

4.20

1.62 4.20 4.50 -1 1 1

FT

2 - 1(0 - 0)

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