Rangers looking to put a poor run of form behind them against in-form Sevilla.
After a good start in the SPL, Rangers have stumbled somewhat in the SPL, and the reigning champions have failed to score in their last three matches. On Tuesday night they host Sevilla in the Champions League, and if they perform as they have been domestically then it could be an embarrassing night for Walter Smith’s side.
Sevilla come into the game on the back of an impressive four-nil victory over Athletic Bilbao, which moved the Spanish side into third place in La Liga, behind only Real Madrid and Barcelona. The win was Sevilla’s fourth in their first five league matches, and they will be both hoping and expecting to continue their good form at Ibrox on Tuesday.
Sevilla are 20/19 (Exepkt) to record their second Champions league win of the season in Glasgow, having comfortably beaten Romanian side Unirea Urzicena two-nil a fortnight ago. Rangers, to their credit, managed a draw in their last European encounter, away to Stuttgart, and are 5/2 (BetFred) to gain another point on Tuesday night. The SPL side are 3/1 (ExtraBet) to take all three points, although that seems a tall order, as the Scots have not faced a side of the calibre of Sevilla in quite some time.
The Spaniards possess an array of attacking talent that Rangers’ manager Walter Smith can only dream of, with Sevilla’s manager, Manolo Jiminez, likely to start with a strike-force of Luis Fabiano (5/1, Bluesq) and Frederic Kanoute (5/1, SkyBet). They will be supported from the wings by two exciting young Spaniards, Diego Capel (20/1, ExtraBet) and Jesus Navas (16/1,Ladbrokes) who are capable of giving the Rangers full-backs a torturous ninety minutes.
By contrast, it is unlikely that Sevilla’s defenders will be losing any sleep over the prospect of facing Kenny Miller (8/1, SkyBet) who will probably be used as a lone striker by Walter Smith. Steven Naismith (12/1, Bet365) and Steven Davis (22/1, SkyBet) will be asked to get forward from midfield, but they may, however, have to spend more time defending than attacking.
As previously stated, Rangers have failed to score in their last three matches, against opponents vastly inferior to Sevilla. The Spanish side are 8/5 (PaddyPower) to prevent the Gers from finding the net again, or a slightly bigger 23/10 (PaddyPower) in the ‘win to nil’ market, although punters should remember that Rangers did manage to score when drawing one each with Stuttgart in their last Champions League outing.
Recommendation
Win Market - Sevilla (19/20, Expekt)
