For the second fixture in a row Rangers will be facing a team heavily affected by Covid-19 after Standard Liege announced that at least four members of their team will be missing, potentially putting the first Europa League group fixture in doubt.
It is as yet unclear if further players will have to isolate and there have already been European fixtures that have been forfeited this season due to UEFA regulations concerning the virus, the Glasgow Times reported on the announcement from the Belgian side with further news expected in the next 24 hours:
“Michel-Ange Balikwisha, Nicolas Raskin, Moussa Sissako and our goalkeeper trainer Jan Van Steenberghe have tested positive for Covid 19.
“On Tuesday morning, the entire Rouche delegation underwent a Covid 19 test ahead of Thursday’s European match against Rangers FC.
“The results received this morning indicate that Michel-Ange, Nicolas, Moussa and Jan are positive.
“The quartet went directly into quarantine and will therefore not participate in the matches this Thursday against Rangers FC and this Sunday at STVV.
“As a precautionary measure, Damjan Pavlovic and Abdoul Fessal Tapsoba, both tested negative, who cohabit and spent the evening yesterday with Moussa Sissako, are also excluded from the group pending the results of a new test.”
The Rangers squad will fly out this afternoon and Steven Gerrard is in the enviable position of having the opposite dilemma, he has an almost fully fit group of players to choose from and must decide between consistency and keeping players fresh.
What result will Rangers get?
Win
Draw
Lose
The biggest issue he has is that players returning from injury like Kemar Roofe and Joe Aribo are not able to get any game time for the reserves or Under-21s and will have to manage their re-integration accordingly.
In an ideal world you would never want to be handed points without the fixture being played, however, if Rangers players are potentially at risk, I’d rather they stayed at home, take the 3-0 win and get a few extra days to recover and prepare for Livingston on Sunday – there are more important things, not only in life, but also than progressing from the group stage of the Europa League this season.