Rangers welcome Polish visitors Lech Poznan to Ibrox in the Europa League group stage looking to continue their excellent form this campaign.
Rangers of course got off to the ideal start in their European endeavours this season with a solid win in Belgium beating Standard Liege 2-0 as Steven Gerrard’s side secured an important opening 3 points.
Rangers are 2nd in Group D tied with leaders Benfica on 3 points only behind them on goal difference going into the 2nd round of games. Benfica came from 2-1 down against Lech Poznan to win 4-2 in Poland last week while Rangers were beating Liege. To get some perspective Lech Poznan are currently in 10th position in the Polish top flight while Benfica are top of the Portuguese Primeira Liga Table with five wins out of five sitting five points clear of rivals Sporting and Porto.
So the loss to Lech Poznan has to be put in context but there is obviously an opportunity for Rangers to get at their defence as their 11 goals conceded in the league and the 4 goals Benfica scored against them indicates.
The Polish club have only won 2 of their 7 league matches with 3 draws and 2 defeats scoring 13 goals so they don’t seem to have problems scoring. From their side Gerrard’s team have spread the goals around the squad pretty evenly with James Tavernier on 9, both Ryan Kent and Alfredo Morelos on 5 and Jermaine Defoe on 2.
The game must be viewed as a big opportunity for Rangers to maximise their points total in Group D and set up set up a big showdown with Benfica when the two face off on Thursday November 5th in the 3rd round of the Europa League in Portugal.
Prediction: Rangers 2-1 Lech Poznan