Manchester United vs Rangers Preview

Manchester United will look to bounce back from a disappointing weekend in the Premier League when they welcome Scottish Premiership side Rangers to Old Trafford for the 7th round of this season’s Europa League league phase.

The Red Devils suffered an embarrassing 3-1 loss at home to Brighton in their weekend league outing. The loss drove them further away from the top six, meaning that their only route to European football next season may come in the form of winning this trophy.

Head coach Ruben Amorim is already losing his hair over his side’s form, labelling them “maybe the worst team in the history of Manchester United.” The Portuguese coach is scrambling for ways to inspire his beleaguered squad, which has picked up just 11 points from his first 11 Premier League games in charge (W3, D2, L6).

However, the picture looks far better for him in the Europa League where the Red Devils remain unbeaten and inside the top eight (W3, D3). But the Red Devils have struggled at home lately, with four defeats from their last five matches at Old Trafford (W1).

That’s not something that usually translates to the Europa League, though, as  United have lost just once as hosts in this competition since March 2012 (W20, D6). That goes some way to explaining their favourites tag, which, if they live up to, would make Amorim just the third United manager to win his first three European games in charge.

Meanwhile, Rangers find themselves sitting inside the Europa League top eight, with just one place separating them and Man United.

As such, they will know that a win here could seal their place in the next round. A return of just one loss in their opening six games suggests that they possess the ability to secure the needed win here.

Philippe Clement’s side are also in good form heading into this tie. They are currently on a seven-match unbeaten run across all competitions (W4, D3). However, Rangers have found more issues on the road where they are winless since early December (D3, L1).

That poor away form looks unlikely to change here, given that Rangers have won just one of their eight away matches against English opposition in Europe (D2, L5), with the sole success coming way back in 1992/93 over Leeds.