Rangers vs PSV: Preview and Prediction
Scottish Premiership side Rangers will take on Dutch Eredivisie side PSV in a UEFA Champions League Play-off fixture. The Scottish side finished last season as the runners of the UEFA Europa League losing to German Bundesliga side Eintracht Frankfurt 5-4 in penalties after finishing full-time on 1-1.
The team finished their regular Premiership season second and booked themselves a berth in the 3rd stage of this competition. The team fell behind 2-0 in the 1st leg against Royale Union Saint Gilloise but came back with an inspiring 3-0 win to make it to the playoffs.
In the current league season, the team have played three and won in all of them and will be hoping to carry their rich form forward.
Their opponents, on the other hand, PSV finished 2nd in their country’s division and saw them play in the 3rd round of the qualifying stages, beating French outfit AS Monaco 4-3 in aggregate to make it to the final stage. The team too have been on a good run winning both their league games while drawing one and winning the other against AS in the UCL qualifying round.
Head to Head Record
The two sides have gone head to head in the UEFA Champions League on four occasions, with Rangers having won three and the points being shared on the other occasion. The two sides last met during a group stage match in the 1999/00 season at the Ibrox Stadium with Rangers winning that fixture 4-1.
Team News
Ryan Kent will be back to the team after having spent 10 days away due to a knock
For the home side, winger Ryan Kent will be back after having missed out on their previous fixture against St Johnstone but the side will be without Filip Helander, Ianis Hagi and Kemar Roofe who are all long-term absentees. John Souttar is uncertain having not featured since the game against Livingston due to personal reasons.
As for PSV, they will be without five players with Mauro Junior, Noni Madueke, Olivier Boscagli, Vinicius and Yorbe Vertessen all missing out due to injuries.
Predicted Starting XIs
Rangers: Jon McLaughlin, James Tavernier, Connor Goldson, Ben Davies, Borna Barisic, Scott Arfield, John Lundstram, Glen Kamara, Malik Tillman, Antonio Colak, Ryan Kent
PSV: Walter Benitez, Phillipp Mwene, Jordan Teze, Armando Obispo, Philipp Max, Ibrahim Sangare, Guus Til, Joey Veerman, Ismael Saibari, Luuk de Jong, Cody Gakpo
Prediction
Two in-form teams will face each other in this clash and will want to get the upper hand over the other before the 2nd leg, this calls for a very engaging fixture on cards. We expect a few goals from the fixture and predict a 2-2 draw between the two sides.
