Rangers vs Real Betis tips: Wasteful hosts to be punished by Los Verdiblancos

Date, KO time and TV coverage

Europa League, Thursday, September 21, Kick-off 8pm, live on TNT Sports 3

Predicted score

Rangers 1-2 Real Betis

Suggested bets 

Real Betis: Draw no bet

Both teams to score

Rangers vs Real Betis team news

Rangers will be without Todd Cantwell, Danilo, and Steven Davis for their Europa League tie against Real Betis, as all three players are injured.

Cyriel Dessers is yet to break his duck in four appearances this season but is likely to continue up front with Rabbie Matondo, Kemar Roofe, Abdallah Sima and Sam Lammers all vying for starts.

The big blow for Real Betis this season is that talisman Nabil Fekir is out with a long-term cruciate ligament injury leaving Isco as chief creator.

Willian Jose, a dangerous marksman with 73 La Liga goals to his name, will be flanked by Luis Henrique and ex-Leicester forward Ayoze Perez.

Hector Bellerin and Marc Roca are also likely to feature but William Carvalho, Rui Silva and Youssouf Sabaly will miss out due to injury.

Rangers vs Real Betis verdict

Rangers were dismantled 7-3 on aggregate by PSV Eindhoven and find themselves dropping into a tricky-looking Europa League group with Real Betis, Sparta Prague and Aris Limassol.

The Gers will fancy their chances of beating the Cypriot champions but picking up points at home to Betis and Sparta will be crucial if they want to progress.

The Spanish team has made an indifferent start to their season, winning two of their first five matches, a 1-0 victory over Rayo Vallecano in a dull game and a late 2-1 win away to Villareal.

They were soundly beaten by Athletic Bilbao and Barcelona in away matches, losing 4-2 and 5-0 respectively. However, they did hold Atletico Madrid to a 0-0 draw at home.

Manuel Pellegrini’s side are unbeaten in 36 of their previous 50 away matches in La Liga. While that isn’t standout, the majority of their losses came against sides playing in Europe.

Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid and Sevilla account for eight of those defeats, so when you dig a little deeper it’s evident that they’re a tough nut to crack.

Even their form in Europe shows just how tough an assignment this is as the Los Verdiblancos have avoided defeat in 10 of 13 Europa League away matches since 2018.

Rangers have looked unconvincing. Routine wins against Ross County and Livingston are to be expected, but they made hard work of beating Servette over two legs.

Their 1-0 loss against Kilmarnock was just as disappointing as their 1-0 loss at home to rivals Celtic, albeit for different reasons.

A common theme in both matches was a failure to take their chances as they produced a higher xG value than both Killy and the Hoops.

Ibrox is always bouncing on European nights but the visitors are a wiley bunch that have the tools to silence the crowd early on. If they can survive the opening exchanges, they should snatch at least a draw.

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