Rangers vs Benfica Europa League Preview (November 26)
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Rangers vs Benfica Pt.2 is happening on Thursday and soccer fans are hoping it’s going to be as exciting as their previous meeting. Their previous Europa League clash, played on November 5, was a high-scoring affair, with three goals on each end.
Since then, we’ve seen both Rangers and Benfica scoring a lot of goals in their domestic competitions, suggesting that another spectacle is upon us. That’s the reason why for soccer prop bet fans, this game seems like an ideal betting opportunity.
- Date: Thursday, November 26
- Time: 3PM (EDT)
- Place: Ibrox Stadium in Glasgow, Scotland
- Competition: UEFA Europa League
- TV: CBS All Access
Rangers vs Benfica Preview
The two are competing in the UEFA Europa League Group D, where they’re currently occupying the top two spots. They surely want to stay there are those places take to the Playoffs.
Both Rangers and Benfica have 7 points after three rounds, but the team from Glasgow is at the top of the group table due to scoring three away goals in the Rangers vs Benfica played in Portugal.
At the moment, Lech Poznan and Standard Liege are behind these two, with 3 and 0 points, respectively.
Superb Form of Steven Gerrard’s Boys
In the first Rangers vs Benfica game, the team from Portugal was the favorite before the game. However, they ended up barely avoiding a defeat with an equalizer in the first minute of the stoppage time.
To be fair, Benfica wasn’t too bad in that game, and would probably be much better if it weren’t for the sending off of their center-back Nicolas Otamendi in the second minute of the game.
Nevertheless, this doesn’t mean Rangers didn’t deserve to grab a point in that game. They were really good, which shouldn’t surprise anyone who’s into the Scottish Premiership. Rangers have been dominating that competition, leading the title race over their arch-rival Celtic.
You would think that it’s not hard to dominate a league such as the Premiership, but some of this team’s recent performances show that they can do great on the continent as well.
The thing is that they got some terrific players in the team, led by an enthusiastic manager, who seems to have bright future ahead of him. The man in question is Liverpool’s legend Steven Gerrard, who’s been in charge of the club since 2018.
Rangers to Miss Two “COVIDiots”
As described by the UK tabloid the Sun, two Rangers COVIDiots, Jordan Jones and George Edmundson got handed seven-match bans for attending a corona-party.
The two players attended an illegal party, which was raided by the cops. As a result, they were fined and will have to stay out of the soccer pitch for seven games, one of which is the Rangers vs Benfica clash in the Europa League.
The good news for Stevie G is that these two aren’t his crucial players. Edmundson is a 23-year-odl defender, who’s featured in only one Rangers game this season. His fellow partygoer, Jones, is a 26-year-old, who took part in three games so far.
Luckily for Gerrard, all of his key men are fit and ready for the big game, including the team’s top scorer James Tavernier.
Curios Case of High-Scoring Right-Back
James Tavernier is the top-scorer of Glasgow Rangers at the moment. What’s strange about this is that Tavernier is a defender.
The 29-year-old, who’s the captain of Rangers, is usually in charge of covering the right side of the pitch. His main duties involve preventing the opposition’s counter-attacks and crossing the ball toward Rangers strikers. Goal-scoring is not near the top of the list of his duties.
Nevertheless, he’s scoring a lot lately, which is something that passionate Rangers fans should not be surprised by. Although he scored only 3 goals in the Premiership in 2019/20, he scored 14 goals the season before.
What’s Wrong With Benfica’s Defense?
In the first three games Benfica played in November, this team conceded a total of 9 goals, 3 in each game. That’s way too much for a team that’s considered one of the biggest favorites for winning both the Portuguese Primeira and the UEFA Europa League.
Luckily for them, their attackers have been there to save the day for Benfica. With players like Seferovic, Nunez, Waldschmidt, Pizzi, Everton, and others, Benfica seems capable of scoring against literally any team in the world.
Still, Benfica’s poor defending makes them appear like a club that can concede against almost any team on the planet. That’s strange, because they have some really great players at the back, including Jan Vertonghen, Nuno Tavares, Alex Grimaldo, and Nicolas Otamendi.
Unfortunately, Otamendi is not going to feature in the Rangers vs Benfica game due to a red card suspension.
Rangers vs Benfica Prediction
There’s no doubt that Benfica is a better team than Rangers. The trouble is that the Portuguese team doesn’t seem to know how to defend. With Rangers in a goal-scoring mood, Benfica’s defense definitely seems vulnerable.
In fact, it seems more than likely that Rangers are going to score in this game. If that happens, the only way for Benfica to get something from this game is to fight back. And that means a lot of goals!
Our Rangers vs Benfica Pick:
- Over 2.5 Goals
- Both Teams to Score (BTS)