Rangers run in the Europa League this season has been impressive, 14 goals for and just one conceded in the five fixtures so far, but the stiffest test yet lies ahead with Benfica expected to provide the fireworks this evening.
Despite getting beat 3-0 off lowly Boavista on Monday evening, they will still represent the hardest opposition to Steven Gerrard‘s side progressing to the knockout stages, both sides have won their first two fixtures but the Portuguese giants have scored seven goals in the process – their attack deserves to be respected as a result.
Trying to second guess the gaffer’s line-ups is becoming harder with every passing week, frequently making four or five changes, but there does appear to be a pattern, of sorts, emerging in some of the key areas.
This is the team I think Gerrard will go with as he looks to put one foot firmly in the next round:
This isn’t the team I’d go with but Gerrard has a tendency to be more pragmatic against “tougher” opposition away from home, personally, I think Scott Arfield and Joe Aribo have both shown that they can be trusted to be disciplined defensively whilst also making runs ahead of the ball and getting behind the opposition defence, it may be that we will look to keep things tighter for the first hour because of our previous results.
Match prediction
Win
Draw
Loss
Leon Balogun for Filip Helander is self explanatory, neither deserve to be dropped given their respective form and the frequency of games is suiting both players due to their recent injury problems, I love the big Swede but we all saw what happened last season in the league when he was unavailable – he is yet to lose a Scottish Premiership fixture – he needs to be managed accordingly.
If we are going to be more compact, Brandon Barker tends to get the nod because of his pace and ability to keep a hold of the ball, again, not something I agree with – I’d rather have Ianis Hagi or Cedric Itten after his performance v Kilmarnock – but we have seen the former Manchester City academy graduate regularly given a start in this sort of game, his inclusion wouldn’t be a surprise, let’s face it.
Alfredo Morelos should start upfront, Jan Vertonghen and Nicolas Otamendi in the heart of Benfica’s defence aren’t the quickest, nor do they like an overly physical battle, there is the potential for an El Bufalo Europa League masterclass, if he is unleashed, he just loves this competition and has rarely, if ever, let us down.
In terms of predictions, after Benfica’s loss to Boavista, anything could happen. They are clearly a good side but are definitely there for the taking, however, because we won our first two games I think Gerrard will be more cautious with his line-up. A draw is a decent result, and that’s what I think we’ll get, keeping us well on track for the knockouts.