Rangers as a rebuilding opponent for Klopp’s Reds?
With Liverpool Football Club and Glasgow Rangers, two renowned traditional clubs of European football face each other. Both clubs have already won the most important club competition at continental level. It is all the more surprising that the clubs will actually face each other for the first time ever in a competitive international match on Tuesday evening as part of matchday three in the UEFA Champions League.
Both the Reds and the Gers, however, would have liked to be in a slightly better position for their premiere encounter. In preliminary round group A, the multiple national champions have not been convincing so far.
While the Scots are still waiting for their first point and first goal, coach Jürgen Klopp’s team are also already on a quasi-win obligation. If we look at the odds between Liverpool and Glasgow Rangers, however, it becomes clear that anything other than a commanding home victory would be tantamount to a huge surprise.
However, it is not necessarily the host’s own strength of form that speaks for a success, but rather the difference in quality between the two teams. However, because the Reds have stumbled from time to time as favourites and have generally struggled to find their feet this season, there are certainly experts who believe the Europa League finalists will get a good result. We are not one of them and prefer to predict a home win between Liverpool and Glasgow Rangers as expected.
Liverpool – Statistics & current form
Jürgen Klopp and the darned seventh year. What sounds a bit like the eighth book in the Harry Potter series is currently becoming reality. After the first two stations of the former World Coach of the Year already lasted exactly seven years, “Kloppo” is now also in his seventh season at Liverpool. Similar to the final season in Dortmund, however, the now 55-year-old is now facing a tangible crisis at Anfield.
In the Premier League, the Reds have only won two of their seven games. In addition, there have been four draws and a well-deserved defeat against arch-rivals Manchester United. As ninth in the table, the 2020 champions are already a whopping eleven points behind leaders Arsenal.
At international level in the group stage of the Champions League, the start for the Scousers also did not go one hundred percent according to plan. After a crushing 1:4 defeat in Naples at the start, the Reds nevertheless struggled to an existentially important 2:1 home victory against Ajax. The aim for the next two matches against Rangers can only be to improve their position in Group A with two trebles before the final two matches.
Defence remains Klopp’s No. 1 problem
To increase the likelihood of success, there definitely needs to be an improvement in performance defensively. They have only managed to keep a clean sheet in two of their ten competitive games so far this season. They have conceded a total of 15 goals, including three in the 3-3 draw at home to Brighton on Saturday afternoon, when LFC turned around a two-goal deficit before conceding an unnecessary equaliser in a disappointing draw.
Despite the indisputable lack of form and the equally indisputable defensive vulnerability, a home win to nil makes the most sense for us in the clash between Liverpool and Glasgow Rangers.
For one thing, it takes a certain amount of risk to push the devastatingly low odds towards the Klopp eleven. For another, the 2019 title holders have won 13 of their past 15 home games at Anfield in the CL group stage, after all. Apart from that, the huge difference in quality combined with the Scots’ offensive harmlessness also argues for a commanding home win. However, this must be achieved without the injured Keita, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Robertson and Jones.
Predicted Liverpool line-up:
Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Matip, Van Dijk, Tsimikas; Elliott, Henderson, Thiago; Salah, Jota, Diaz
Last matches played by Liverpool:
Premier League
01/10/2022 – Liverpool FC 3 – 3 Brighton
Champions League Grp. A
14/09/2022 – Liverpool FC 2 – 1 Ajax Amsterdam
08/09/2022 – SSC Napoli 4 – 1 Liverpool FC
Premier League
03/09/2022 – Everton 0 – 0 Liverpool FC
01/09/2022 – Liverpool FC 2 – 1 Newcastle
Glasgow Rangers – Statistics & current form
Last season, Glasgow Rangers reached the Europa League final in a complete surprise, but famously lost to Eintracht Frankfurt. After a few years of suffering in sub-par Scottish football, the Gers have once again made a name for themselves in international football. Because they also successfully qualified for the top flight in the summer, the Scottish record champions are back in the group stage of the most important club competition on this continent for the first time since 2010/11.
However, the first two match days showed that this elite group is probably still at least one size too big. Rangers lost 4-0 in Amsterdam and were also clearly shown the limits by Napoli at home with a 3-0 defeat.
Rangers so far only points supplier in Group A
Only Viktoria Plzen (two) and FC Sevilla (three) have taken fewer shots on goal than coach Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s side in the competition so far. This is one of the reasons why the odds on a home win between Liverpool and Glasgow Rangers, including the clean sheet, offer decent value.
In general, the “Teddy Bears”, as the club likes to be called, are much weaker away than at home. Even on the way to the Europa League final in 2021/22 (including qualification), they won only one of nine matches at international level. Since the start of pre-season, the Scots have two wins from twelve European away games. They have failed to score five times.
To make matters worse, the Blue and Whites have only managed to take full points on one of seven trips home from England so far. That success, however, is now exactly 30 years in the past and therefore dates from a time long forgotten. In our eyes, the van Bronckhorst team simply lacks the offensive means to pose problems to a dominant opponent and to provide relief. Therefore, we believe that Rangers will go away empty-handed for the third group match in a row. Souttar, Lawrence, Sands, Helander, McLaughlin, Ofoborth, Hagi and Roofe are all unavailable due to injury.
Predicted line-up of Glasgow Rangers:
McGregor; Tavernier, Goldson, Davies, Barisic; Lundstram, Davis, Jack; Tillman, Morelos, Kent
Last matches played by Glasgow Rangers:
Premiership
01/10/2022 – Hearts 0 – 4 Rangers
17/09/2022 – Rangers 2 – 1 Dundee United
Champions League Grp. A
15/09/2022 – Rangers 0 – 3 SSC Napoli
07/09/2022 – Ajax Amsterdam 4 – 0 Rangers
Premiership
03/09/2022 – Celtic Glasgow 4 – 0 Rangers
Liverpool – Glasgow Rangers Direct Comparison / H2H Record
Despite the geographical proximity of less than 300 kilometres as the crow flies between the major cities and the outstanding tradition of both clubs, it comes to the first direct duel on Tuesday evening on a must-win level. In general, Liverpool’s last match against a Scottish opponent was also more than 40 years ago. Relevant conclusions from the head-to-head record can therefore not be drawn for our Liverpool vs. Rangers prediction.
Liverpool – Glasgow Rangers Prediction
When it comes to marriages, people like to talk about the darned seventh year. Jürgen Klopp’s sporting marriages also seem to have such a cursed season. In Mainz and Dortmund, the ex-professional’s tenures ended after seven years in each case. If things continue as they have in the last two months, the Stuttgart-born manager will face the same fate at Liverpool.
The Reds are not finding their form at all at the moment, already have a double-digit points deficit in the Premier League and must also look to prevent further slips in the top flight. The defence in particular is a headache for those responsible. They have only kept their clean sheet twice so far this season. Consequently, relatively high betting odds are being offered on a home win to nil between Liverpool and Glasgow Rangers.
Despite recent performances and a results crisis that now cannot be ignored, we are very confident that the 2019 CL winners will fulfil their duty against the Scottish record champions on Tuesday night. The van Bronckhorst team was hopelessly outclassed on the first two matchdays, already lost almost everything away from home in the Europa League last year and also historically won only once in England.
Contrary to the trend, we are therefore betting on a win for the favourites in the clash between Liverpool and Glasgow Rangers.
