Malmo and Glasgow Rangers open the semifinal stage of the UEFA Champions League qualifiers. While the Swedish representative already reached its full speed when it comes to competitive matches, on the other side, Rangers played its first league match this weekend. We’ll see if that bothers Steven Gerrard’s side, whose primary goal regarding the international stage is reaching the UCL. Missing that would be a great blow for both the team and the fans. As for Malmo, they have the same hopes, and that guarantees a good fight at the Eleda Stadium.
Preview
Malmo (+250) already played two stages of the UCL qualifiers, eliminating Riga FC in the first round, 2-1 on aggregate, and HJK Helsinki in the last one, 4-3 agg. Besides that, they played four contests in the Swedish Allsvenskan, losing the opening one and winning the remaining three.
Five of those eight games went above 2.5 goals, while four saw just one team scoring. So the Swedish champs don’t have some pattern in their efficiency we might rely upon.
They are a hard-working side, very physical, with several experienced veterans and many younger players who provide energy to this team. The biggest names are Ola Toivonen, Niklas Moisander, and Anders Christiansen.
Glasgow Rangers (+110) have won the title after a decade and are now hungry to get back to the elite echelon of the European clubs. In order to do so, they simply have to participate in the UEFA Champions League. That is why Steven Gerrard kept the entire team from the previous season, hoping to upgrade it with a few additions and continue a stretch of excellent results seen over the past two campaigns.
The Gers didn’t shine during the prep period, losing to Tranmere, 1-0, and playing draws with Arsenal and Brighton. However, the final test before the start of the season was against Real Madrid, and the Rangers won that one, 2-1, boosting the morale before the competitive challenges.
This Saturday, the Gers hosted Livingston, easily dispatching the rivals from the domestic championship, 3-0.
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The above-mentioned Toivonen probably won’t play in the first leg due to his knee injury.
On the other side, Nnamdi Oforboh and Ryan Jack aren’t traveling to Sweden.
Head to Head Games
The two teams met for the last time at the same stage of the UEFA Champions League qualifiers, only 10 years ago. The first match in Glasgow ended 0-1 for Malmo, while the rematch ended without winners, 1-1, so the Swedish side got into the next round.
Prediction
Even though Rangers know to play open and aggressive, we highly doubt that Gerrard might set up such tactics on Tuesday night. The Rangers’ performances at home were superb, and the former Liverpool captain will probably wait for the second 90 minutes to make his move. Instead, we expect to see the Gers imposing a bit slower tempo, with some tactical adjustments to protect for protecting its goal.
In the end, the best pick for this contest is under 2.5 goals. The current odds are -125 for that, and we feel that the profits are quite fair.
Pick: Under 2.5 goals, -125
Here you have the previews for more matches
Nikola Velickovic is a sports journalist who loves to write and read on all sports. Nikola contributes both news updates and functions as a sports breaking news writer at WagerBop.
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Email: nikola@wagerbop.com
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