Rangers welcome Red Star Belgrade to Ibrox in the first leg of their Round of 16 tie in 2021-22 UEFA Europa League.
Rangers qualified for this stage after defeating Borussia Dortmund in the Knockout Play-Offs, whereas Red Star benefitted from receiving a bye to this round after topping Group F.
Team News
Amad Diallo could return for Rangers if he has recovered from a knock which forced him to miss Saturday’s Scottish Premiership win over Aberdeen.
Steven Davis (unspecified) is a doubt but Ianis Hagi (knee) and Nnamdi Ofoborh (illness) remain ruled out.
Red Star have no fresh injury concerns to report with a full squad available for selection.
Stat Attack
- Rangers are unbeaten in five of seven previous meetings against Red Star Belgrade (W3, D2 L2).
- Red Star Belgrade are winless in three previous away matches against Rangers at Ibrox (D1, L2).
- Rangers have kept just one clean sheet in three home matches against Red Star.
- Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s Rangers have scored first in each of their four Europa League matches under his management.
- Red Star has scored more than once in just one of their six away matches in Europe this season (W2, D2, L2), which came in a 2-1 win at CFR Cluj in Europa League Play-Offs.
Prediction
Having bravely fought their way past Borussia Dortmund in the knockout play-offs, Rangers will be full of confidence coming into this match but they will need to raise their game again after scraping two sluggish domestic wins in the last week.
Red Star meanwhile haven’t exactly been thrilling away from home given their struggles to score more than once on their European travels this season, which has to be a concern given their poor form in this fixture and especially at Ibrox in particular.
With that in mind, I feel that if Rangers play like they did against Borussia Dortmund and Red Star struggle to keep their defence tight then this tie could well be half-finished come full-time.
Prediction: Rangers 2-0 Red Star Belgrade
Result: Rangers 3-0 Red Star Belgrade