With a two-goal lead to take to Macedonia on Tuesday, the Light Blues start as hot favourites to progress
Steven Gerrard’s career as a manager got off to a positive start last Thursday as Rangers beat Shkupi 2-0 to carry a significant advantage to Macedonia on Tuesday.
Goals from Jamie Murphy and James Tavernier have given the Ibrox side a strong platform for which to progress into the Europa League second qualifying round.
Their opponents were competitive enough last week to suggest that this will not be a walkover for the Glasgow side, who were beaten by Progres Niederkorn at this stage last season.
Shkupi, meanwhile, are aiming to prolong their first foray into Europe, having moved the tie away from their home ground to the Philip II Arena in Skopje.
| Game | Shkupi vs Rangers |
| Date | Tuesday, July 17 |
| Time | 4:55pm BST / 11:45am ET |
In the United States (US) the game will be not be shown live on television, but it will be available to stream live online via Rangers’ in-house TV channel, Rangers TV.
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| US TV channel | Online stream |
|---|---|
| N/A | Rangers TV |
In the United Kingdom (UK), the game can be watched live on TV on Premier Sports and streamed on the Premier Player app.
| UK TV channel | Online stream |
|---|---|
| Premier Sports | Premier Player |
| Position | Shkupi players |
|---|---|
| Goalkeepers | Zendeli, Aleksovski, Jonuz |
| Defenders | Tipuric, Bilali, Bajrami, Owono Nchama, Krivanjeva, Monsuy Angong, Ramadani |
| Midfielders | Ljamcevski, Muarem, Broja, Vujcic, Sefo, Veliu, Ismaili, Adem, Sergio Junior |
| Forwards | Shabani, Muharem, Ilijoski, Stojkovski |
Shkupi competed well last week but must find more offensive punch in their side if they are to trouble Rangers.
Potential Shkupi XI: Zendeli; Adem, Bajrami, Tipuric, Ndong; Broja, Vujcic; Stojkovski, Muarem, Ljamcevski; Ilijoski.
| Position | Rangers squad |
|---|---|
| Goalkeepers | Foderingham, McGregor, Alnwick |
| Defenders | Tavernier, John, Wallace, Goldson, Hodson, Flanagan, Katic, Wilson, Beerman, Cardoso |
| Midfielders | Dorrans, Jack, Ejaria, Halliday, Ross McCrorie, Rossiter, Candeias, Docherty, Forrester, Barjonas, Arfield, Burt, Middleton, Coulibaly, |
| Forwards | Murphy, Windass, Morelos, Rudden, Atakayi, Herrera, Sadiq |
Gerrard’s Rangers side is still a work in progress and the team he selects is liable to be along the same lines as the one used a week ago.
Lee Wallace and Jordan Rossiter are absent through injury but Ryan Jack was able to make his first appearance in seven months off the bench last time out. New signings Lassana Coulibaly and Umar Sadiq are not expected to play a role.
Potential Rangers XI: McGregor; Tavernier, Goldson, Katic, Flanagan; McCrorie; Windass, Candeias, Arfield, Murphy; Morelos.
Rangers are heavy favourites to win the game, with dabblebet offering odds of 3/10 on the Scottish side to come out on top. Shkupi’s chances of winning are rated at 7/1 and a draw is available at 4/1.
Click here to see all of dabblebet’s offers for the game, including goalscoring markets, correct score predictions and more.
Rangers manager Steven Gerrard overcame the first hurdle placed in front of him as a manager when his side recorded a 2-0 win over Shkupi on Thursday.
The Gers were good value for their victory and perhaps should be carrying an even bigger advantage into the second leg after missing a plethora of chances at Ibrox, including a hat-trick of openings for Josh Windass.
In the end, it took a controversial late penalty to give them some insurance ahead of the second leg, but Ryan Jack is confident that they can see the tie out in what is expected to be tough conditions in Macedonia.
“Going over there 1-0 or 2-0 is a big difference and when we go over there we will just play the same game, organised, composed and control the game. We have players in the team that can score goals so we are confident,” he told the club’s official website.
“We controlled most of the first half, it was good and then for a wee spell of the second half maybe we never really controlled it as well as we had wanted. Then we picked it up again and got the penalty.
“It is 2-0 and we got the clean sheet and out first win together, I am really pleased with those aspects.”
An away goal should be enough to secure the Gers’ progress against opponents who rarely threatened in Scotland and have no other European experience to call upon.
However, after last year’s defeat against Progres Niederkorn after winning the first leg 1-0 but dropping the second 2-0, they will be taking nothing for granted.