Rangers vs Liverpool Preview

After another losing outing in the Premier League, Liverpool will turn their attention to the Champions League this Wednesday as they travel to Glasgow to take on Rangers in the first return leg of their 2022/2023 UEFA Champions League campaign.

The hosts will look to win their first UCL game of the season when they welcome the Reds to Ibrox Stadium this Wednesday.

Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s side have maintained good form in the Scottish Premiership. But they have struggled in Europe and come into this round of games without a win in three UCL group games this season.

Their last European outing was at Anfield, where they were beaten 2-0 by goals from Trent Arnold Alexander and Mohamed Salah. They have played three UCL games without registering a single point or goal.

However, they bounced back in their domestic league with a win against St Mirren last weekend. Goals from James Tavernier, Fashion Sakala and a brace from Antonio Colak handed Rangers all three points and kept them on the toes of league leaders Celtic who they now trail by just two points.

They are at risk of missing out on all tiers of UEFA competition unless there is an upturn in form and a return leg win against a struggling Liverpool side may be the catalyst needed to keep their hopes of qualification alive.

Given that they have lost just one of their last 14 games at home (W12, D1), they will fancy their chances of getting a positive result against Jurgen Klopp’s wounded side.

The Premier League giants continued their poor form in the Premier League this season with another disappointing loss to Arsenal on Sunday.

The loss extended Liverpool’s winless run in away games this season to five games (D2, L3). They come into this tie with just one away clean sheet from their last seven competitive games outside of Anfield and have looked vulnerable at the back.

For a side that was built on the defencive spine of Virgil van Dijk and Alison Becker, Liverpool have disappointed this season.

But they have the chance to put their poor domestic form behind them with a win in this game. Amid their worst start to the season in the Premier League since the Jurgen Klopp era, the Reds have managed to keep themselves afloat in the Champions League with two wins in their first three games keeping them in second place behind Napoli.

A win in this game and a win for Napoli in the other Group A game will put Klopp’s men in a solid position to advance to the next stage of the UCL.