Rangers hold a slender advantage going into the second leg of their Europa League last-32 tie with Antwerp.
Steven Gerrard’s charges were involved in a superb game in Belgium last week. Joe Aribo gave the visitors a 1-0 lead at the interval, but Rangers then found themselves 2-1 and 3-2 down in the second half. Ryan Kent levelled things up in the 83rd minute, before Borna Barisic settled the seven-goal thriller in the Scottish side’s favour.
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Four away goals last time out means, realistically speaking, anything better than a two-goal defeat at Ibrox should be sufficient for Rangers to advance to the last 16 for the second season on the bounce.
The Gers, who beat Dundee United 4-1 on Sunday, are on the verge of winning the Scottish Premiership title for the first time in a decade. Celtic’s 1-0 loss to Ross County means Gerrard’s men hold an 18-point lead at the summit of the standings, with their arch-rivals having now exhausted their previous games in hand.
It has long been a matter of when, not if, Rangers get their hands on the title. Having begun the campaign with the sole objective of preventing Celtic reaching 10 championships in a row, Rangers now have the chance to make this one of the best seasons in the club’s long and distinguished history. Still unbeaten in the Premiership, Gerrard and his players will also believe nothing is impossible in the Europa League, a competition whose final they reached in 2008 but have never won.
Rangers will have to make do without James Tavernier, Kemar Roofe and Nikola Katic on Thursday night, but Gerrard has no fresh injury concerns to deal with. The former Liverpool captain made four changes for the triumph over Dundee United, and could stick with the side that won that match so comfortably.
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Kick-off is at 5.55pm GMT and the game is being shown on BT Sport 3 in the UK. See below for watching details where you are.