Rangers are gearing up for a potentially pivotal Europa League clash with Sparta Prague without six key first-team stars.
Heading into the game Rangers boss Philippe Clement confirmed that John Souttar, Nicolas Raskin, Scott Wright and Rabbi Matondo are missing with injury.
Rangers first-team pair Ridvan Yilmaz and Kieran Dowell are also ruled out of the Europa League clash with Sparta Prague due to being left out of the club’s squad for the competition.
It leaves Rangers a tad threadbare in several key positions and – despite being boosted by the return of Kemar Roofe – the club continues to rebuild after a devastating run of injury problems.
Manager Philippe Clement claims he wants to focus on those names who are available as Rangers look to take a sizeable step towards qualifying from the Europa League groups against Sparta Prague.
With the Gers tied on four points with the Czech side, and Aris Limassol three points off group leaders Real Betis, this could be a defining matchday for Group C in the competition.
If Rangers overcome Sparta Prague and Real Betis defeat Aris Limassol, it puts both sides firmly in the driving seat heading into the final two matches.
But at this stage that remains a big if.
For Philippe Clement’s first Europa League game at Ibrox, we’re backing the Belgian to stick largely with what what he knows in the circumstances.
From the 3-1 League Cup win over Hearts at Hampden, we reckon Ben Davies will come back into the side given Leon Balogun’s exposure at centre-back in the only change from the game.
With Sparta Prague welcoming back their top scorer for the game, overcoming the Czechs will be no mean feat as the excitement builds ahead of the game.
Rangers v Sparta Prague (Europa League) – 4-2-3-1
GK – Jack Butland
DR – James Tavernier
DC – Connor Goldson
DC – Ben Davies
DL – Borna Barisic
CDM – John Lundstram
CDM – Ryan Jack
CAM – Todd Cantwell
LF – Abdallah Sima
RF – Sam Lammers
ST – Danilo
