Europa League returns to the fold this Thursday when Rangers welcomes RB Leipzig to Ibrox Stadium in the semi-finals of the competition. Kickoff schedules for 5th may 2022 at 22:00 EAT.
Rangers are placed in the 2nd place with 40 points in the Scottish Premiership. Second-best in both the top flight and this European semi-final, there is a real possibility that Rangers’ only piece of silverware this season comes via the Scottish Cup. Albeit with a defensively-minded performance, Rangers nullified RB Leipzig for the majority of the first leg in Germany last Thursday before Angelino’s decisive goal in the 85th minute.
In their previous match, Rangers held each other to 1-1 Premiership draw with Celtic. In that game, Rangers had 49% possession, 14 shots with five of them on target and a goal scored by Fashion Sakala (67′). Celtic on the other end got nine shots with only one of them on target and a goal by Jota (21′).
Meanwhile, Leipzig is placed fifth with 54 points after 32 matches in the Bundesliga 1. After losing at home to Union Berlin ahead of the first Rangers game, Leipzig went down Borussia Moncehengladbach on Sunday, even with their opponents playing the final 26 minutes with 10 men. However Leipzig has certainly improved under Tedesco during the second half of the season, their next four fixtures will define whether it will be deemed successful with a top-four finish and the DFB Pokal also on their list of targets.
Leipzig and their travelling fans will be hoping for better results coming off 3-1 Borussia Mönchengladbach in Bundesliga 1 in their last outing. In that game, RB Leipzig managed 50% possession 12 shots with seven of on target and a goal scored by Christopher Nkunku (36′). Borussia Mönchengladbach got nine shots with six of them on target and goals by Breel Embolo (17′) and Jonas Hofmann (45′, 77′).
Rangers vs RB Leipzig head to head
Wednesday’s fixture will be the third head to head clash between these two sides since 2017. Leipzig won in both matches while Rangers will be looking for their first victory against this opponent.
- Leipzig 1-0 Rangers 28/04/22
- Leipzig 4-0 Rangers 15/01/17
Home
- Celtic 1-1 Rangers
- Leipzig 1-0 Rangers
- Motherwell 1-3 Rangers
- Celtic 1-2 Rangers
- Rangers 3-1 Braga
Away
- M´gladbach 3-1 Leipzig
- Leipzig 1-0 Rangers
- Leipzig 1-2 Union Berlin
- Leipzig 2-1 Union Berlin
- Leverkusen 0-1 Leipzig
Rangers team news
Aaron Ramsey is also in contention to return after a hamstring problem, while Ryan Jack and Glen Kamara should feature after only being named as substitutes versus Celtic.
RB Leipzig team news
As for Gaffer Domenico Tedesco, Marcel Halstenberg and Lukas Klostermann are both in line to return to the backline, as is Dominik Szoboszlai who could be preferred to frontman Andre Silva.
Prediction and odds
Rangers has a strong home record and they picked up four wins from their last six matches in all competitions while RB Leipzig have lost two of their last three outings in the Bundesliga but managed to beat Rangers in the first leg.
- Draw
- Both teams to score
- Double Chance 1 or 2
