Will RBL silence the cauldron of witches at Ibrox?
The UEFA Europa League final will be played in Seville on 18 May at 21:00. If you take the two results from the semi-finals, there is a high probability that two German teams will face each other there. But before the title game can be planned in Andalusia, the Bundesliga teams still have to master the second legs next Thursday. RB Leipzig, unlike Eintracht Frankfurt, will even have to get on a plane to do so.
After the 1-0 home win against Rangers, a draw at the Ibrox Stadium would be enough for Tedesco’s side to book their place in the final. The bookmakers, however, even believe that the cup finalists will win away from home in the Scottish cauldron. Ahead of the second leg between Glasgow Rangers and RB Leipzig, odds of 2.05 are offered on a three-goal win for the central city side. This puts the implied probability of occurrence at 48%.
The Saxons, who suffered a serious setback in the league on Monday evening in the fight for Champions League places, are capable of making a splash away from home on the international stage, as they have already underlined in the previous rounds with victories at Atalanta Bergamo or Real Sociedad.
In conjunction with their existing strengths in transitional play, which is likely to become more important in the course of the match given the starting constellation, we also think a forecast for a positive result for the visitors between Glasgow Rangers and RB Leipzig is quite profitable.
Glasgow Rangers – Statistics & current form
Glasgow Rangers are certainly one of the positive surprises in this year’s Europa League semi-finals. Although the reigning Scottish champions still have an outstanding reputation and a highly successful tradition in the European Cup, the “Gers” have rarely made a great appearance at international level in recent years.
For the first time since 2008, Rangers are hosting a semi-final in a European competition. Back then, the 55-time national champions reached the final of the UEFA Cup in the preliminary round against Fiorentina, but lost to Zenit St. Petersburg. Incidentally, four of the five previous semi-final appearances in the European Cup have actually gone through to the final. However, this impressive quota could go down next Thursday evening.
Rangers like semi-final pairings
The fact is that since the Europa League was introduced in 2009, only four of 17 teams have managed to overturn a defeat in a semi-final first leg. This is one of the reasons why the odds on the British team to reach the final are at a maximum of around 5.00 ahead of the second leg between Glasgow Rangers and RB Leipzig.
Despite their outstanding Europa League season so far, it should not be forgotten that coach Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s 2021/22 side have already lost out to Malmö and Lyon at home, conceding at least two goals in three of their seven home games. In the quarter-final second leg against the Portuguese side from Braga, who were double-defeated, Glasgow also struggled to reach the semi-finals in extra time.
Offensive punch has been lacking of late
In the last 300 minutes, the “Teddy Bears” have only managed a total of six shots on goal. To make matters worse, the home side are under pressure from the result in the first leg and will have to take risks as the game progresses, playing completely into the visitors’ strengths. In our opinion, it therefore makes sense to bet on the Bundesliga side in the clash between Glasgow Rangers and RB Leipzig.
In terms of personnel, the Dutch ex-professional will still have to do without his most dangerous striker Alfredos Morelos. Filip Helander, Nnamdi, Ofoborh and Ianis Hagi are also in hospital. Aaron Ramsey and Kemar Roofe are also question marks. It will also be interesting to see how Rangers cope with their 1-1 draw with Celtic Glasgow at the Old Firm last weekend, which reduced their chances of defending their league title to an absolute minimum.
Predicted line-up of Glasgow Rangers:
McGregor; Tavernier, Goldson, Bassey, Barisic; Lundstram, Jack, Kamara; Aribo, Sakala, Kent
Last matches played by Glasgow Rangers:
Premiership Championship Group
01/05/2022 – Celtic Glasgow 1 – 1 Rangers
Europa League Final Stage
29/04/2022 – RB Leipzig 1 – 0 Rangers
Premiership Championship Group
23/04/2022 – Motherwell 1 – 3 Rangers
FA Cup
17/04/2022 – Celtic Glasgow 1 – 2 Rangers
Europa League Final Stage
15/04/2022 – Rangers 3 – 1 Braga
RB Leipzig – Statistics & current form
Last Monday, Leipzig fell back into old patterns in their 3-1 defeat at Monchengladbach, which those in charge thought had been put behind them with the installation of Domenico Tedesco. The German-Italian coach came down hard on his team after this deserved defeat, even denying them the right attitude in the first half.
In our eyes, however, this setback was exactly the right warning shot before the upcoming semi-final second leg in Scotland. Despite the Saxons’ tremendous second half of the season, their ticket to the 2022/23 Champions League group stage is far from assured. They are currently only in fifth place. It would therefore be of enormous importance to keep the chance alive to secure the right to start in the next top flight season by winning the Europa League if necessary.
Leipzig extremely goal-threatening in Europe – especially away
The strength of the Bullen’s away performances on the international stage has been proven time and again this season. We have already mentioned the two victories at Atalanta Bergamo (2:0) and Real Sociedad (3:1), both of which came with a two-goal difference.
If we now include the three away games in the CL group stage, we have 15 goals scored in five European away games in 2021/22. In good conscience, it is therefore even conceivable to consider a prediction between Glasgow Rangers and RB Leipzig that Nkunku and Co. will score at least twice again and at the same time not leave the pitch as losers.
The latter is also supported by the fact that keeper Gulacsi has not had to make more than two saves in any of the five Europa League matches played. As far as personnel is concerned, coach Tedesco can draw on a full complement of players. Only Amadou Haidara will be missing due to injury. On the offensive side, however, the coach can rely on many fast switchers who have already proven their ability against some top clubs this season.
Predicted line-up of RB Leipzig:
Gulacsi; Klostermann, Orban, Halstenberg; Henrichs, Laimer, Adams, Angelino; Olmo; Szoboszlai, Nkunku
Last matches played by RB Leipzig:
Bundesliga
03/05/2022 – Gladbach 3 – 1 RB Leipzig
Europa League Final Stage
29/04/2022 – RB Leipzig 1 – 0 Rangers
Bundesliga
23/04/2022 – RB Leipzig 1 – 2 Union Berlin
DFB Cup
21/04/2022 – RB Leipzig 2 – 1 Union Berlin
Bundesliga
18/04/2022 – Bayer Leverkusen 0 – 1 RB Leipzig
Glasgow Rangers – RB Leipzig Direct comparison / H2H record
The first leg a week ago was the first and so far only meeting between these two clubs. A late goal from Angelino (85th) gave RB a narrow 1-0 win and they struggled to create chances against Rangers’ defensive bulwark throughout the game. The ten shots fired matched Leipzig’s lowest tally in the current EL season.
Glasgow Rangers – RB Leipzig tip
From 21:00 onwards, the two Europa League semi-finals are on the agenda next Thursday. While Eintracht can make their place in the final perfect in front of their home crowd against West Ham, the central city side have to play their second leg at the Ibrox Stadium in Glasgow. The starting position is nevertheless the same for both German teams. A draw is enough for the final in Seville on 18 May 2022.
Looking ahead to the match between Glasgow Rangers and RB Leipzig, the betting odds are in favour of the Saxons, who will benefit from the fact that the Scots will have to take more risks after winning the first leg 1-0. With the Gers having conceded two or more goals in three European Cup home games this season and lacking attacking punch of late, we fancy an away treble.
