Prediction and odds for the game: Rangers (evens) v Galatasaray (9/4)

We are backing the home win

When: Thursday, 1st October 2020, Kick-off 19:45

Where: Ibrox Stadium

On Thursday night, Rangers host Galatasaray at Ibrox, in what could be one of the ties of the round in the Europa League play-offs. The winners will clinch a place in the group stages of the competition.

Rangers

The Scottish giants have made a strong start to the campaign and currently sit top of the SPL. They are a point clear of bitter rivals Celtic, who have a game in-hand on Steven Gerrard’s team in the race for the Scottish top-flight title. In fact, the home team have not suffered defeat since they exited this competition at the last-16 stage last season against Bayer Leverkusen in August. They have been hard to beat under Gerrard in general.

Rangers have a decent recent record in the Europa League, as they have suffered just three defeats in their last 20 matches in the competition. Two of those defeats came against Bayern Leverkusen in last season’s competition. They have already eliminated Lincoln Red Imps and Willem ll this season in the Europa League. A 3-1 home defeat by Leverkusen in their last home game ended a 17-game unbeaten run on home soil for Rangers in the Europa League.

Galatasaray

Like their opponents, Galatasaray have made a promising start to their campaign this season, picking up seven points from a possible nine in the Turkish Super Lig. They currently sit third place in the early season table.

This season has seen a change in trend in the Europa League for the visitors. They have recorded wins over Neftci and last time out Hadjuk Split. Before the start of this season’s Europa League, they were on a winless run of eight games in Europe’s secondary competition. Their recent matches in the Europa League have been low-scoring, with under 2.5 goals scored in six of their last nine matches.

Galatasaray have struggled when it has come to away games in the Europa League, winning just two of their last eight matches on their travels. The fact that the visitors have kept just one clean sheet in those five games has certainly been a factor in the Gala’s poor away record in the Europa League. Although their recent away games in the Europa League have not all been high-scoring, five of their previous seven matches has seen both teams score.

Conclusion

This game should certainly be a tougher one for both teams than the ones they have faced so far in this season’s competition. We fancy Steven Gerrard’s team to book their spot in the group stages of the competition. We think this could be a tight game, so we are also backing under 2.5 goals scored.

Verdict: We are backing Rangers to win at evens and/or under 2.5 goals scored at odds of 4/5. (All odds are taken from Bet365).

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Will Rangers or Galatasaray book their place in the group stage of the Europa League?