The Glasgow club have had a bright start to the European campaign and take on a side going through a difficult phase
Rangers welcome Spartak Moscow to Ibrox on Thursday looking to hold on to first place in their Europa League group.
With four points from two games, Steven Gerrard’s men have been a surprise package, but still have a lot to do if they are to progress to the next round.
Spartak, meanwhile, have just one point so far and need a win to stay in the fight for the top two spots, but have been unsettled by coach Massimo Carrera’s sacking, leaving fitness coach Raul Riancho in charge.
| Game | Rangers vs Spartak Moscow |
| Date | Thursday, October 24 |
| Time | 8:00pm BST / 15:00pm EST |
| Stream (US only) | fubo TV (7-day free trial) |
In the United States (US), the game can be watched live and on-demand with fuboTV (7-day free trial).
New users can sign up for a free seven-day trial of the live sports streaming service, which can be accessed via iOS, Android, Chromecast, Amazon Fire TV, Roku and Apple TV as well as on a web browser.
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| US TV channel | Online stream |
|---|---|
| n/a | fubo TV (7-day free trial) |
In the United Kingdom (UK), the game can be watched live on BT Sport 3 and streamed on BT Sport Live.
| UK TV channel | Online stream |
|---|---|
| BT Sport 3 | BT Sport Live |
| Position | Rangers squad |
|---|---|
| Goalkeepers | McGregor, Foderingham, Alnwick |
| Defenders | Tavernier, Goldson, Hodson, Flanagan, Ross McCrorie, Katic, Bradley, Wallace |
| Midfielders | Dorrans, Jack, Ejaria, Halliday, Coulibaly, Kent, Arfield, Kelly, Rossiter |
| Forwards | Grezda, Murphy, Sadiq, Morelos, Candeias, Rudden, Middleton, Lafferty |
Long-term injury victims Lee Wallace and Jamie Murphy are still out, as are Graham Dorrans and Scott Arfield.
Possible Starting XI: McGregor; Tavernier, Katic, Goldson, Barisic; Arfield, Ejaria, Coulibaly; Candeias, Morelos, Kent
| Position | Spartak Moscow squad |
|---|---|
| Goalkeepers | Rebrov, Selikhov, Poplevchenkov |
| Defenders | Petkovic, Dzhikiya, Bocchetti, Kombarov, Kutepov, Eschenko, Likhachev, Gaponov |
| Midfielders | Ananidze, Glushakov, Fernando, Samedov, Melgarejo, Eremenko, Timofeev, Zobnin, Popov, Tashaev, Hanni |
| Forwards | Ze Luis, Pedro Rocha |
Samuel Gigot has been out since early-September with a cruciate ligament injury and will not be back until March, but the Russians have few other injury concerns. Marko Petkovic is also unavailable, while Alexander Selikhov is a doubt for this game.
Possible Starting XI: Maksimenko, Rassakazov, Dzikiya, Bocchetti, Kombarov, Fernando, Zobnin, Eremenko, Lomovitskiy, Melgarejo, Ze Luis.
Rangers are priced at 23/20 to win, according to bet 365, while a draw is available at 13/5. A win for Spartak is priced at 5/2.
Click here to see all of bet 365’s offers for the game, including goalscoring markets, correct score predictions and more.
Rangers head into Thursday’s game looking to build on their current run of three wins and 10 goals scored as they begin to pick up steam after a slow start to the season.
Steven Gerrard’s team will feel they have the edge over a Spartak side going through a bad spell and a recent change in coach.
However, the Scottish side will be careful not to underestimate them as they look to keep their bright start to the European campaign going.
“Spartak have been inconsistent this season,” Gerrard said at a press conference. “It’s very difficult to predict what will happen when a manager leaves.
“It’s slightly different as the manager tomorrow was in the set-up beforehand. We have to be ready and show our quality.
“We know we are facing a really strong team, but we are going into the game with confidence and belief.
“I think Spartak come with more experience than Rapid – they play in hostile arenas and they have individuals who are very capable of hurting us.
“If we emulate the performance and atmosphere of the Rapid match, we will be very difficult to beat.”