Rangers begin their Europa League campaign with a trip to Sweden this week as they take on Allsvenskan league leaders Malmo at the Eleda Stadion (kick-off: 5.45pm).
Philippe Clement’s side head into the game on the back of two morale boosting victories against Dundee and Dundee United and will hope to avenge the Champions League qualifying defeat they suffered against their Swedish counterparts in 2022.
The Gers third game in eight days, the Belgian boss could make changes to his starting XI for the game, as he looks to manage the fitness of his squad, though he is still without Ridvan Yilmaz, Rabbi Matondo and Danilo, with the latter two players not even included in the Europa League squad due to injury. Winger Oscar Cortes will also miss out after suffering a “bad knock” in training, while Jefte is suspended after his red card against Dynamo Kyiv in last month’s Champions League defeat.
So what will the Gers starting XI look like against Malmo on Thursday night? The Scotsman predict the Rangers starting XI for their Europa League opener, using live photos from today’s training session in Glasgow ahead of the trip to Scandanivia.
5. LB: Jefte
With Ridvan Yilmaz out injured, the Brazilian has performed admirably at left-back over the past month and will start for the Gers tomorrow night. | SNS Group
6. CM: Connor Barron
Proving more and more influential in the Rangers engine room, the 21-year-old will make his Europa League debut in a deep lying midfield role. | SNS Group
7. CM: Mohamed Diomande
Came on for Dujon Sterling at half time on Saturday, and we expect him to be one of the changes Clement will consider on Thursday night, with the Ivorian likely to return to the midfield. | SNS Group
8. CAM: Tom Lawrence
Has played well in the last two games, scoring an excellent individual goal against Dundee United a fortnight ago. Lawrence will hope to take his form into the Europa League and make a big impact for Rangers against Malmo. | SNS Group