Scottish giants Rangers conclude their pre-season preparations with a trip to Germany to take on Bundesliga outfit Hoffenheim at the Rhein-Neckar Arena on Saturday afternoon.
While the Gers finished second in the Scottish Premiership last season, Die Kraichgauer had to settle for a 12th-placed finish in the German top flight.
Match preview
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Following a below-par 2022-23 campaign in which they narrowly avoided relegation from the Bundesliga, finishing just three points above the drop zone, Hoffenheim boss Pellegrino Matarazzo is tasked with building a squad capable of challenging for the European places in 2023-24.
Die Kraichgauer begun their pre-season in Germany, with a 3-1 away win over fourth-tier side Astoria Walldorf followed by a 2-1 defeat to second-tier team SV Elversberg.
Hoffenheim have since stepped up their preparations during a week-long training camp in Austria where they had mixed success on the pitch, with a 2-1 loss to French club Strasbourg followed by a 4-2 win against Eredivisie champions Feyenoord last Saturday.
Matarazzo took plenty of positives from the training camp and victory over Feyenoord, with Pavel Kaderabek, Andrej Kramaric, Jacob Bruun Larsen and Angelo Stiller all on the scoresheet against the Dutch outfit in a game which consisted of four halves of 30 minutes.
After facing Rangers for the first time on Saturday, Hoffenheim will travel to Craven Cottage to take on Fulham in their final warm-up match before preparing for their first competitive game of the new season against VfB Lubeck in the first round of the DFB-Pokal on August 14.
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After watching their bitter Glaswegian rivals Celtic celebrate winning the domestic treble last season, Rangers boss Michael Beale has overseen a busy summer transfer window, with eight new signings made at the time of writing, and more expected to arrive, as well as 10 players departing the club.
Beale believes that a first-team refresh is required as the Gers seek to close the gap to Celtic on the domestic front and improve their fortunes in Europe following a disastrous Champions League group-stage campaign in 2022-23, losing all six matches by an aggregate score of 22-2.
Rangers are sure to have one eye on their Champions League third qualifying round tie against either Servette or Genk next month, as well as their Scottish Premiership opener with Kilmarnock four days earlier, but they will first endeavour to bounce back from a 3-1 friendly loss at home to Olympiacos on Wednesday when they take on Hoffenheim this weekend.
A deflected strike from Kostas Fortounis opened the scoring for Olympiacos on the stroke of half time before captain James Tavernier restored parity from the penalty spot six minutes after the break. However, the Greek side regained the lead just five minutes later through Joao Carvalho before the Portuguese playmaker added a third 20 minutes from time to seal the victory.
Rangers had previously won two and lost one of their opening three pre-season matches, with 2-0 and 2-1 wins over Hallescher and Hamburger SV respectively taking place either side of a 2-1 home defeat to Newcastle United in Allan McGregor's testimonial.
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Team News
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Hoffenheim teenager Umut Tohumcu is facing a lengthy spell on the sidelines after sustaining a ligament injury to his left ankle in training last week, while Fisnik Asllani is nursing a similar injury.
Matarazzo could hand a non-competitive debut to Hungarian centre-back Attila Szalai, who joined permanently from Fenerbahce on Monday, while fellow new recruits Florian Grillitsch, Julian Justvan and Marius Bulter may also get a run-out on Saturday.
In terms of outgoings, Christoph Baumgartner, Munas Dabbur, Stefan Posch, Lucas Ribeiro, Sebastian Rudy and Jacob Bruun Larsen have all departed the German club, with the latter joining Burnley on loan.
As for Rangers, Steven Davis, Connor Goldson (both knee) and Leon King (ankle) are ruled out through injury, but the latter two are expected to return to training next week.
Beale has confirmed that summer signing Dujon Sterling is set to link up with his new teammates ahead of the clash with Hoffenheim after recovering from a calf problem, while Tom Lawrence, Kemar Roofe and Ryan Jack are also closing in on a return to full fitness.
Rangers' newest recruit Danilo, who was officially unveiled on Friday, will travel with his new teammates to Germany and the striker is in contention to make his non-competitive debut against Hoffenheim.
Defender Leon Balogun, winger Rabbi Matondo and forward Sam Lammers, who have made a combined 120 Bundesliga appearances, could all feature for the Gers this weekend, while former Hoffenheim striker Antonio Colak was sold to Parma earlier this summer after just one season at Ibrox.
Hoffenheim possible starting lineup:
Baumann; Szalai, Brooks, Vogt; Kaderabek, Grillitsch, Becker, Bulter; Kramaric, Damar; Bebou
Rangers possible starting lineup:
Butland; Tavernier, Davies, Balogun, Barisic; Dowell, Raskin; Cantwell, Lammers, Sima; Dessers
We say: Hoffenheim 2-2 Rangers
Rangers are expected to name a strong side on Saturday as they look to round off their pre-season preparations on a high, while several first-team regulars for Hoffenheim are also poised to gain minutes as the new season edges ever closer.
With little to separate these two teams, we believe that an entertaining score draw could be played out in an end-to-end contest at the Rhein-Neckar Arena.
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Oliver Thomas
