Rangers FC suffered a 1-0 loss at the hands of Braga in the 1st leg of their Europa League quarter-final clash and now they take on the Portuguese side at Ibrox this week.
The Gers had a muted outing at the Estádio Municipal de Braga as they failed to have even a single shot on target during the 90 minutes of football. This is the first time that the SPFL side had failed to register even a single shot on target since November of 2009 vs Stuttgart in the Champions League.
Under Giovanni van Bronckhorst, Rangers FC have done really well this season and in the last round, they have knocked out the mighty Borussia Dortmund. At home, the Gers are a force to reckon with and if they can find rhythm pretty early on in the match then overturning a 1-0 deficit should not be a big ask.
The manager has a more or less fit squad to choose from so naming a strong and competitive starting line up will not be an issue for him on Thursday. Braga though will be the more confident side because they have not tasted defeat in their previous five outings whereas the Ibrox outfit have suffered three losses in the same number of games.
Rangers FC team news:
Rangers midfielder Scott Arfield had refused to hit the panic button after the loss in the 1st leg and given the players that his manager has at his disposal, the Scottish side can very well stage a turnaround.
“There’s no doom and gloom about this – none whatsoever,” Arfield had told BT Sport. “We wanted to win the game but it’s set up for next week and a cracker. We’re already looking forward to it.
“We are still in this tie and it’s only half-time. I feel we can get up against them next week and I don’t think it will be the same game. We can create more chances.”
The manager used a few of his second-fiddle players this weekend for the game against St Mirren so these players will move to the bench in midweek.
Filip Helander picked up an injury on Sunday and hence will make way for Balogun while Calvin Bassey will also come back into the first XI, in place of Borna Barisic.
Lundstram also picked up an injury during the weekend and he is a doubt for the Braga game. In the 1st leg, Lundstram was one of the standout players for Rangers FC so his absence will certainly be a big blow for the manager.
🔵 Rangers boss Giovanni van Bronckhorst has been left sweating over injuries to John Lundstram and Filip Helander after their convincing 4-0 win over St Mirren.https://t.co/s8hFDOAh7F
— Clyde 1 Superscoreboard (@ClydeSSB) April 10, 2022
On paper though, Van Bronckhorst has the players who can will up that void.
Alfredo Morelos is another major absentee because he has just been ruled out for the rest of the season meaning Kemar Roofe will hold onto his place up front.
Kick-off details:
Timing: 14th April, Thursday at 20:00 BST
Venue: Ibrox
Referee: Francois Letexier
Broadcast:
UK: BT Sport Ultimate, BT Sport 2, BT Sport App, BTSport.com
India: Sony Six HD, JioTV, Sony Six, Sony LIV
USA: Paramount+, TUDNxtra, TUDN.com, TUDN App
Rangers vs SC Braga prediction:
Rangers FC 2-0 Braga
Rangers FC predicted line up vs Braga:
Predicted Starting Line up(4-2-3-1): McGregor; Balogun, Goldson, Tavernier, Bassey; Ryan Jack, Kamara, Joe Aribo; Ryan Kent, Aaron Ramsey, Kemar Roofe.
