Preparing for another unfancied stint in the Europa League, Rangers prepare to welcome Armenian outfit Alashkert FC to Ibrox for the first leg of their playoff round tie on Thursday night.
Steven Gerrard's men dropped down from the Champions League following defeat to Malmo over two legs, while the visitors have already beaten Kairat to progress this far.
Match preview
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Rangers' first Scottish Premiership title win in 10 years - and a very convincing one at that - did not translate into a first Champions League group stage appearance in 11 years, as Malmo once again proved to be a banana skin for the Ibrox outfit during qualifying.
After dumping Rangers out in the third preliminary round during the 2011-12 season, Malmo came up with the goods 10 years later to send the Scottish champions packing at the same stage this time around, as Gerrard's men lost 2-1 home and away and must now fight for the right to reach the Europa League proper.
The ex-Liverpool captain admitted that things went "badly wrong" for his side in the second leg at Ibrox, where Alfredo Morelos's opener and a red card for Malmo's Bonke Innocent seemed a certain recipe for success, but the 10-man visitors struck twice in four minutes through Antonio Colak to leave Gerrard ruing a lacklustre second-half display.
A 1-0 league loss to Dundee United was sandwiched in between those two defeats to Malmo during a week where nothing could go right for Gerrard in the dugout, but his side did restore some parity with a 5-0 Scottish League Cup drubbing of Dunfermline at the weekend, with Kemar Roofe (two), Ianis Hagi, Scott Wright and John Lundstram finding the back of the net.
A fourth consecutive appearance in the Europa League group stages is not sealed just yet, but Rangers are yet to taste defeat at this stage of qualifying and certainly hold the favourites tag against their relatively unknown visitors.
The second-round curse once again bedevilled Alashkert in Champions League qualifying, as they were stopped in their tracks at that stage by Sheriff Tiraspol to drop down to the Europa League.
Having played out a goalless stalemate with Kazakhstan powerhouses Kairat Almaty in the first leg of their third-round qualifying tie, Alashkert could not make their two-man advantage count in normal time following a pulsating 2-2 draw in 90 minutes during the second leg, but the nine men of Kairat ultimately bowed out as substitute Aleksandar Glisic netted a 103rd-minute winner.
The Armenian champions only boast a very brief history in UEFA competitions, with the 2015-16 campaign representing their first stint on the continental stage, and Aleksandr Grigoryan has already led his side to their best-ever finish in Europe as they seek to defy the odds and make the Europa League group stages.
Alashkert previously faced Celtic during the first round of 2018-19 Champions League qualification and fell to a 6-0 aggregate defeat, and their title defence in the Armenian Premier League has also started miserably with back-to-back defeats to Ararat-Armenia and Van in August.
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Team News
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Rangers midfielder Glen Kamara continues to serve a continental suspension following the ugly scenes against Slavia Prague, with Steven Davis once again expected to fill the void in midfield.
Ryan Jack and Nnamdi Ofoborh remain on the treatment table, while Roofe's double at the weekend will surely not be enough to see him keep his place up top over Morelos, but Fashion Sakala missed out against Dunfermline due to a groin problem.
A healthy mix of youth and experience got the job done against Dunfermline, but Gerrard is sure to reinstate the likes of James Tavernier, Allan McGregor and Ryan Kent to the first XI on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Alashkert manager Grigoryan shuffled the pack considerably for his side's recent league encounter with Van, and the bountiful changes did not pay off during a lowly 2-0 defeat.
The visiting manager will therefore recall some of his big-hitters to the first XI, namely Jose Embalo, who scored two of his side's three goals in their thrilling second-leg win over Kairat.
Artak Grigoryan and David Khurtsidze should also both return to a rejigged midfield, while goalkeeper Ognjen Cancarevic is one of the few players who can feel confident of retaining his place from the weekend.
Rangers possible starting lineup:
McGregor; Tavernier, Goldson, Balogun, Barisic; Aribo, Davis, Lundstram; Hagi, Morelos, Kent
Alashkert FC possible starting lineup:
Cancarevic; Cameta, Voskanyan, Kadio, Boljevic; Grigoryan, Khurtsidze, Hovsepyan; Papikyan, Embalo, James
We say: Rangers 3-0 Alashkert FC
Even with a two-man advantage, Alashkert made hard work of their victory over Kairat and make the journey to Ibrox on the back of two disappointing league results.
Rangers have not been without their own problems during the embryonic period of the season, but Gerrard's men should storm into a healthy first-leg lead on home soil.
Top tip
Ben Knapton
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Rangers win with a probability of 67.07%. A draw had a probability of 22% and a win for Alashkert FC had a probability of 10.93%.
The most likely scoreline for a Rangers win was 1-0 with a probability of 17.39%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (15.38%) and 3-0 (9.08%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 0-0 (9.83%), while for an Alashkert FC win it was 0-1 (5.41%). The actual scoreline of 1-0 was predicted with a 17.4% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted a 1-0 win for Rangers in this match.
