Football

Rangers Vs Olympique Lyonnais Team News And Predicted Lineups Ahead Of Europa League Battle At Ibrox

James Chittick Sports Editor

Published20 hours ago on October 03, 2024

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With Europa League football back at the Ibrox, here’s our Rangers Vs Lyon predicted lineups and team news ahead of Thursday night’s massive fixture.

Rangers come into this European tie on the back of four straight victories. They won 2-0 at Malmo in their opening Europa League match, as well as beating Hibernian and both Dundee sides in recent weeks.

It’s been a strong response from Philippe Clement’s side after their humbling 3-0 loss at Celtic in last month’s Old Firm derby.

The blue side of Glasgow currently sits third in the Scottish Premiership, having won four of their opening six matches. They trail early leaders Celtic and Aberdeen by five points, with both having made perfect starts to the domestic season.

Lyon meanwhile have struggled in Ligue 1 so far. The French side are 11th in the table with just two wins from their first six matches.

They beat Olympiakos in their European opener last month, and will be looking for another victory this evening.

Rangers and Lyon have met just four times in their history. Two of those matches were in the group stage of this competition back in 2021, with Lyon the victors in Glasgow and the French leg ending 1-1.

Their only meetings before that were in the Champions League group stage in 2007, with both sides losing their home fixtures 3-0 to each other.

Rangers Team News

Philippe Clement will be without a number of players when Lyon come to town. Danilo (knee), Rabbi Matondo (hamstring), Ridvan Yilmaz (thigh) and Oscar Cortes (knock) are all out, while Mohamed Diomande is a doubt after picking up a knock before the win against Hibs.

Nedim Bajrami shook off a hamstring issue to come off the bench at the weekend, and should be fit enough to start tonight.

Meanwhile, Hamza Igamane made his debut up front, but the 21-year-old will probably drop to the bench in place of Cyriel Dessers.

The Belgian-born Nigeria international has seven goals in 11 appearances this season, and should be expected to start.

Lyon Team News

For the visitors, Moussa Niakhate was left on the bench against Toulouse at the weekend, and it is still not clear wether the centre-back has recovered fully from a muscle injury.

Gift Orban and Ernest Nuamah are both in line to return to the starting XI after surprise omissions last time out, with Orban and Said Benrahma vying for a place on the right wing.

Former Crystal Palace winger Wilfried Zaha may struggle to keep his place on the left. Malick Fofana and Rayan Cherki are both pushing the Ivorian hard, while Alexander Lazazette should come in for Georges Mikautadze up top.