Rangers are unbeaten in all competitions going into Thursday night’s Europa League last 16 second leg match versus Slavia Prague. The Glasgow giants have already wrapped up the Scottish Premiership title and now want to win the Europa League.
Slavia Prague are standing in Rangers’ way and are a stubborn foe. The Czech club eliminated Leicester City 2-0 on aggregate in the last 32. They have their eyes on dumping out Rangers and moving into the quarterfinals.
🔴⚪️ A stunner from Nicolae Stanciu! 💥The Slavia Praha midfielder has scored 6 goals in his last 4 games in all competitions 🔥@slaviaofficial | #UEL pic.twitter.com/MegHScbVBx— UEFA Europa League (@EuropaLeague) March 16, 2021
🔴⚪️ A stunner from Nicolae Stanciu! 💥The Slavia Praha midfielder has scored 6 goals in his last 4 games in all competitions 🔥@slaviaofficial | #UEL pic.twitter.com/MegHScbVBx
The first leg finished 1-1 with Slavia Prague performing well against the more fancied Scottish club. Both goals came in the first half as Slavia Prague’s Nicolae Stanciu opened the scoring in the seventh minute. Rangers’ Filip Helander levelled the scoreline on 36 minutes.
It was a hard-fought match with neither side able to get the upper hand. As it stands, Rangers have a slight edge thanks to the away goals rule. The problem for Steven Gerrard and company is the advantage immediately swings in Slavia Prague’s favour if they score a goal.
A 1-1 draw forces extra-time, but any other score draw sees Slavia Prague go through to the Europa League quarterfinals. If Slavia Prague score a goal (or any goal), Rangers must score twice. It is a predicament for Rangers if they concede.
Rangers have a brilliant record at Ibrox. They have posted a 20W-1D-0L record, scoring 60 goals for an average of 2.86 scored per game and just nine conceded.
Slavia Prague have posted a record of 11W-3D-3L on the road. They average 2.32 goals per game away from home while conceding an average of 1.29 strikes a match.
Gerrard has three players suffering from injuries going into the second leg fixture. Midfielder Ryan Jack has a calf muscle injury and is a doubt for the fixture. Defender James Tavenier is ruled out with a knee injury. Defender Nikola Katic is also ruled out. He has an ACL injury.
Slavia Prague’s manager Jindrich Trpisovsky could be without a quartet of players. Midfielder Ibrahim Traore has a muscle injury that could keep him out while Mick van Buren is a doubt due to a muscle strain. Petr Sevcik and David Hovorka could both return from their respective injuries.
Can Rangers keep their unbeaten run going? Yes, they certainly can, but the problem is that a score draw of anything over 1-1 will lead to Slavia Prague qualifying for the quarterfinals.
The Czechs’ dream run in the competition should continue thanks to a draw and over 2.5 goals scored.