Rangers return to Europa League action on Thursday night as they travel to Nice searching desperately for a much-needed victory.
While the Gers form in the European competition is actually quite good, their pitiful league form has piled the pressure on head coach Philippe Clement, with some reports stating a bad result against Nice could signal the end of his time as Rangers boss.
The Ibrox boss was boosted by the return of Ridvan Yilmaz from a three month injury lay-off at the weekend, but will head to the continent without the services of both Danilo and Ianis Hagi, with both ommitted from Europa League squad. Rabbi Matondo and Tom Lawrence remain unavailable through injury.
With Cyriel Dessers and Mohamed Diomande hauled off at half-time during Saturday’s drab 1-1 draw with Dundee United, Clement must decide whether to keep faith with the pair, or turn to someone new in order to breath fresh life into the team.
For their French opponents, the story is a little different. Despite losing just one of their last eight games in all competitions, Franck Haise’s side are five points behind Rangers in the Europa League table, having failed to win any of their opening four fixtures in competition. Failure to beat Rangers would effectively end their hopes of qualification for the knockout stage of the competition.
So who starts for Rangers this Thursday? Here, The Scotsman predict who will be named in the starting XI for the Gers clash against Nice:
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9. CAM: Nedim Bajrami
Bajrami has largely done okay since arriving, with the Albanian taking up a left-wing role since his arrival. More suited to a number 10 position, we think Clement will move him more central in place of Mohamed Diomande, who is struggling for form. | SNS Group Photo: SNS Group
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10. LW: Jefte
Clearly more comfortable going forward than defending, the Brazilian has been forced to fill in at left-back for the injured Yilmaz over the last three months. With the Turkish defender now fit and available, Jefte can move back to a more familiar position of left-wing. | SNS Group
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11. CF: Hamza Igamane
Supporters patience is wearing thin with Cyriel Dessers. Despite scoring 10 goals in all competitions, his enigmatic ways have made him a huge source of frustration at Ibrox since the day he joined. Rangers improved when he was replaced with Danilo at the weekend, but with the Brazilian not available for Thursday's game, Clement must decide to include young Moroccan Igamane, or persist with Dessers. We predict he'll be brave and drop the Nigerian. | SNS Group