Rangers vs Union Saint Gilloise Predictions

• Rangers won each of their last six games held in Glasgow.
• Royale Union failed to win four of their last five competitive away games.
• Rangers were Europa League finalists last year while this is Royale Union’s first major tournament qualifier.

Rangers can bank on European pedigree

After making the Europa League final and only losing out on penalties last season, it would be a massive shock if Rangers were to be eliminated by a side that have never featured in a major European tournament, Royale Union Saint Gilloise.

The Scottish giants dominated in terms of possession in the reverse leg but were ultimately defeated 2-0, meaning they have something of a mountain to climb in order to turn that around in the home leg.

Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s men are far from out though, they overturned first-leg deficits to progress from both the quarter final and semi final stages of the Europa League last season. Those comeback wins came against Braga and Leipzig, so another resurgence against Royale would arguably be less surprising.

The fairy tale continues for Royale Union

Only promoted to the Belgian top-flight for last season, Royale Union surpassed all expectations by pushing the title race all the way and finding themselves in the Champions League qualifiers. Their only prior European participation came in the now defunct Inter Cities Fairs cup, so any further progress is already historic.

While their 2-0 first-leg win was impressive, the intimidation factor of a rocking Ibrox simply cannot be understated. The likes of Dortmund could hardly deal with it, so it would surprise few if Rangers take this game by the scruff of the neck.

We predict that Rangers will win this game within 90 minutes, although perhaps by an extra time inducing 2-0 scoreline. Royale Union are no pushovers and will do everything they can to stifle Rangers, so we expect a hard-fought match.