Rangers travel to Anfield to face Liverpool in a competitive match for the first time in history as the Ibrox club’s Champions League hopes hang on a knife edge.
The Gers have shipped seven goals without reply in their first two matches back at Europe’s top table with the club’s transfer business criticised as a result.
But whilst the trip to Amsterdam to face Ajax was unacceptable, Rangers showed some fight in the clash with Serie A Napoli before James Sands’ inevitable red card cost them dearly in Glasgow.
A 4-0 loss to the Dutch champions and a 3-0 defeat to the current Serie A leaders has Rangers staring down the barrel of a Champions League gun and it’s Liverpool who have their finger on the trigger.
Being completely fair, no one truly expected Rangers to pull up any roots in this group, with plenty speaking out of hope rather than expectation after the club was drawn in a challenging Group A.
But if Rangers do want to cause an upset then they will need to go to the home of last season’s beaten finalists and get something to stand a realistic chance of European football after Christmas.
For that reason, we expect the strongest Rangers team available to walk out the tunnel at Anfield in what promises to be a Battle of Britain for the ages as expectations rise in both sets of supporters.
Rangers predicted XI for Champions League clash v Liverpool
Rangers manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst confirmed that Allan McGregor has reclaimed the number one jersey after Jon McLaughlin’s bottle crashed at Parkhead.
We expect the veteran stopper to start in front of James Tavernier, Connor Goldson, ex-Liverpool star Ben Davies and resurgent Croatian left-back Borna Barisic.
In midfield, we expect John Lundstram to drop back into that holding role where he can switch between defence and midfield and van Bronckhorst has gone with three more defensive midfielders in this sort of match before.
Steven Davis’ experience will be invaluable in the middle of the park, whilst we expect Glen Kamara to offer that composure and class on the ball which slipped in the final moments v Napoli.
Up top, Ryan Kent is a shoo-in to make his return to the club where he came through at academy level, whilst we reckon it’ll be Rabbi Matondo off the right to provide some pace on the counter.
That central striker role has sparked much debate but we suspect Alfredo Morelos is the horse for this course, the Colombian’s ability to hold up play and let teammates get up the pitch more useful at the home of Jurgen Klopp’s superstars than Antonio Colak’s trademark finishing ability.
Rangers predicted XI for Liverpool Champions League clash
GK – Allan McGregor
DR – James Tavernier
DL – Borna Barisic
DC – Connor Goldson
DC – Ben Davies
CDM – John Lundstram
CM – Steven Davis
CM – Glen Kamara
RW – Rabbi Matondo
LW – Ryan Kent
ST – Alfredo Morelos
