Rangers vs Borussia Dortmund Predictions

• Rangers haven’t conceded in nine home games, but Dortmund have scored in their last ten away.
• Dortmund could be bolstered by the return of their danger man Erling Haaland.
• Dortmund scored at least twice in nine of their last ten competitive matches.

Records are made to be broken

While Rangers shocked the world with a 4-2 win in the first leg, manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst was quick to temper expectations by stating that it was just a good night, and nothing more. However, optimistic Rangers fans will point to an unbeaten home record vs Dortmund (W3, D1) as to why they should progress.

The proverbial mountain that Dortmund must scale to progress has been made somewhat smaller by the fact that the away goals rule is abolished in this tournament, meaning any 2+ goal margin of victory will at least take this game into extra time.

The expected return of Erling Haaland will be music to Dortmund fans ears, as he will likely link up with Marco Reus well should he return, after the latter contributed to five goals in Dortmund’s stunning 6-0 win over Monchengladbach last weekend (two goals, three assists).

A return to form for Dortmund

Dortmund have never been eliminated from the first knockout round in the Europa League, with the away legs in their prior R32 appearances producing a 1-0 win over Porto and a 1-1 draw with Atalanta.

The visitors will need to better both of those results if they are to progress here, though with their resurgent victory at the weekend and with returning players, I predict that Dortmund will at least win the game in 90 minutes.

For smaller stakes, I will take a chance on an extra-time inducing 3-1 away win in the correct score market.