Rangers’ Europa League qualification run continues on Thursday with a trip to Denmark, where they will face Midtjylland.Steven Gerrard’s men have been in fine form this season, despite a scoreless draw at Progres Niederkorn a week ago. Indeed, they won their Scottish Premiership opener 2-1 against Kilmarnock on Sunday, with Connor Goldson’s late winner sparking raucous scenes.Midtjylland are their toughest opponents to date, though. Although this is their first European game of the season, they are four matches into their league campaign and have won each one by a single goal. Article continues below Editors’ Picks Emery out of jail – for now – as brilliant Pepe papers over Arsenal’s cracks What is Manchester United’s ownership situation and how would Kevin Glazer’s sale of shares affect the club? Ox-rated! Dream night in Genk for Liverpool ace after injury nightmare Messi a man for all Champions League seasons – but will this really be Barcelona’s? Game Midtjylland vs Rangers Date Thursday, August 8 Time 7pm BST / 2pm ET TV Channel, Live Stream & How To Watch In the United States (US), the game will be available for streaming on Rangers TV. US TV channel Online stream N/A Rangers TV In the United Kingdom (UK), the game will not be broadcast on television but can be streamed via Rangers TV. UK TV channel Online stream N/A Rangers TV Squads & Team News Position Midtjylland squad Goalkeepers Hansen, Ottesen, Andersen Defenders Dal Hende, Andersson, Reese, Scholz, Nicolaisen, Manjrekar, Sviatchenko, Da Silva Midfielders Sparv, Poulsen, Okosun, Evander, Mabil, Anderson, Ogochukwu, Cajuste, Madsen, Dyhr Forwards Kaba, Thychosen, Isaksen, Dovbyk, Junior Brumado, Wikheim Summer signing Paulinho is only ready now to begin training and is not currently in the club’s European squad.Crucially, Nigeria international striker Paul Onuachu, who was part of the side that finished third at the Africa Cup of Nations, has not featured after that competition. Midtjylland have not fielded the 6′ 7″ forward this season as he is liable to be sold.Former Celtic centre-back Erik Sviatchenko can play, despite being dismissed at the weekend.Possibile Midtjylland starting XI: Hansen; Scholz, Sviatchenko, Nicolaisen; Cajuste, Frank, Sparv, Evander, Andersson; Junior Brumado, Wikheim Position Rangers squad Goalkeepers McGregor, Foderingham, Firth Defenders Tavernier, Edmundson, Goldson, Katic, Polster, Barisic, Halliday, Helander, Flanagan Midfielders Jack, Davis, Ojo, Kamara, Docherty, Aribo, Arfield Forwards Stewart, Morelos, Defoe, Jones, Hastie Graham Dorrans and Jamie Murphy continue to miss out injured for Steven Gerrard’s men, who will be able to welcome back goalkeeper Allan McGregor, who was suspended for the weekend win at Kilmarnock.Jon Flanagan and Filip Helander are both doubts.Possible Rangers starting XI: McGregor; Tavernier, Goldson, Katic, Barisic; Davis, Jack, Aribo; Ojo, Morelos, Arfield.Betting & Match Odds Rangers are 13/8 outsiders to win this match at bet365. Steven Gerrard’s men can be backed at 11/5 to get a draw, while a Midtjylland victory is on offer at 31/20.Click here to see all of bet365’s offers for the game, including goalscoring markets, correct score predictions and more .Match Preview
Rangers have made an almost flawless start to the season but on Thursday face their biggest test yet as they tackle Midtjylland at the MCH Arena.Steven Gerrard’s side are unbeaten both in friendly and competitive play this term and on Sunday received a major boost as they overcame Kilmarnock 2-1 thanks to a late Connor Goldson effort. Having only taken two points from a possible 12 against the Rugby Park side in the league last season, this was a very welcome success.Now thoughts turn back towards Europe, where the Gers are seeking to reach the group stage of the Europa League for the second season in succession. Two qualifying rounds have already been negotiated with ease, but there is little doubt that the challenge becomes harder this time around.Speaking after the draw against Progres last week, Gerrard admitted that his side would “have to play better” to overcome their seeded rivals.Midtjylland are seeking to reach the group stage for just the second time in their history, though when they did before they recorded a stunning two-legged victory over Southampton and even beat Louis van Gaal’s Manchester United 2-1 at home before succumbing 5-1 in the return leg.Since then, they have fallen in the play-off round three times, against Osmanlispor, Apollon Limassol and Malmo.“I think our chance of going through is 50-50, but it will be insanely difficult,” former Celtic man Erik Sviatchenko admitted. “It’s going to be two exciting ties – Rangers will come to Denmark with a lot of fans and they have a really strong team.“I had the pleasure of playing against them five times while at Celtic. Rangers are physical and fast.“But we are at home in the first leg and I think we have a chance if we can keep another clean sheet – something we have being doing a lot of recently.“We have one aim and that is to get into the Europa League group stage.”The two clubs share the same goal but only one can progress, with the winner set for a showdown against Legia Warsaw or Atromitos.
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