Football
Rangers vs FCSB Preview, Prediction, Team News and Predicted Lineups
Cai is a news and features writer that specialises in football, but has experience covering a variety of other sports, including darts, basketball, American football, MMA, boxing and more. He holds a degree in Football Journalism (BA Hons) from the University of Derby, and worked with Nottingham Forest FC and Burton Albion FC throughout his studies. Cai also has experience working in social media with the Football Association of Wales, where he worked on a freelance basis, and has also been an accredited writer in the JD Cymru Premier for both Y Clwb Pêl-Droed and welshfootie since the 2019/20 season.
Get to know Cai Parry betterPublished3 hours ago on October 23, 2024
Rangers continue their Europa League campaign with a home clash against Romanian champions FCSB on Thursday, and we’ve got the latest team news and predicted lineups, as well as a prediction in our preview.
Rangers vs FCSB Preview
Scottish giants Rangers return to Europa League action for their third league phase fixture of the campaign against FCSB at Ibrox on Thursday, where they’ll be aiming to bounce back after suffering a 4-1 defeat to Lyon last time out.
The Gers kicked off their league phase campaign with an impressive 2-0 win away at Malmo, which sees them head into MD3 occupying 17th place in the table after recording a win and a draw thus far in the competition.
Since the defeat to Lyon, they have won one and lost one domestically. The win came against St. Johnstone prior to the international window, whom they beat 2-0 at home, but their most recent outing ended in a bitterly disappointing 1-0 defeat against Kilmarnock at Rugby Park.
87’ | Kilmarnock 1-0 Rangers
Marley Watkins with the goal for Kilmarnock.
— Rangers Football Club (@RangersFC) October 20, 2024
Phillippe Clement’s side are currently third in the Scottish Premiership table, six points adrift of leaders Celtic and unlikely title challengers Aberdeen.
FCSB, meanwhile, are in sixth place in the Romanian Superliga, seven points behind leaders Universitatea Cluj and come into continental action enjoying an impressive nine-game unbeaten run across all competitions.
The reigning Romanian champions are one of just five teams remaining in the Europa League league phase to boast a 100% record across their opening two matches, having beaten RFS 4-1 on MD1 and PAOK 1-0 on MD2.
Their most recent game ended in a comfortable 2-0 win over Dinamo Bucuresti on Sunday, but despite their strong form as of late, the UK’s best football betting sites still favour Rangers to claim three points in Glasgow.
Rangers Team News
The hosts are without a trio of first-team stars for FCSB’s visit this week, with all of Oscar Cortes, Rabbi Matondo and Ridvan Yilmaz ruled out through injury, while Ross McCausland, Danilo and Robin Propper are marked as doubts.
Welshman Tom Lawrence is available though, having returned from a hamstring issue to start against Kilmarnock at the weekend, and he’ll be looking for his second goal in the competition this term after netting against Lyon earlier this month.
Nigerian forward Cyriel Dessers is expected to lead the line, with Lawrence in behind, likely to be supported in attack by Nedim Bajrami on the left and Vaclav Cerny on the right.
FCSB Team News
Unfortunately for FCSB, captain and star midfielder Darius Olaru is ruled out through suspension after picking up a red card in the win over PAOK.
According to reports, David Kiki, Mihai Lixandru and Florin Tanase join Olaru on the sidelines for Thursday’s action, with all three missing out on the win over Dinamo Bucuresti through injury.
Adrian Sut is also set to miss out on the trip to Glasgow.
Rangers vs FCSB Predicted Lineups
Rangers Predicted Lineup:
Butland; Tavernier, Souttar, Balogun, Jefte; Diomande, Barron; Cerny, Lawrence, Bajrami; Dessers
FCSB Predicted Lineup:
Tarnovanu; Cretu, Ngezana, Dawa, Radunovic; Edjouma; Baluta, Miculescu, Alhassan, Popescu; Birligea
Rangers vs FCSB Prediction
Despite being heavily favoured to win the tie among bookmakers, we believe that FCSB can frustrate an inconsistent Rangers at Ibrox and hold the hosts to a stalemate.
Of course, the Romanian outfit’s form speaks for itself, and they’ll undoubtedly be looking to extend their unbeaten run to 10 straight matches, while the Gers’ defeat to Kilmarnock at the weekend proves they are susceptible to dropping points at the moment.
FCSB have also proven themselves that they can overcome the odds in Europe, having advanced to the Europa League league phase with an unlikely 2-1 aggregate win over Austrian Bundesliga side LASK in the play-off round.
Rangers certainly have the quality needed within their squad to come out on top against FCSB though, but when considering their form, we’re backing the spoils to be shared on Thursday.
Prediction: Rangers 1-1 FCSB