Rangers v Brondby: Gerrard faces a must-win match at Ibrox

“All the pressure is on Rangers here, and it’ll be interesting to see how the likes of Morelos and James Tavernier deal with it.”

Rangers v Brondby
Thursday, 20:00
Live on BT Sport

Rangers manager Steven Gerrard was forced to admit his Rangers side face a must-win match at home to Brondby on Thursday evening after losing each of their opening Group A outings. The Bears are stuck to the bottom of the pool without a point on the board after defeats to Lyon and Sparta Prague. There’s now pressure on the home side to finally get off the mark and breathe life into their Europa League campaign.

The stands of Ibrox Park will be packed to capacity as fans look to create a special atmosphere and roar the players to victory, but nothing will come cheaply against Brondby. The visitors know they are up against the lowest-ranked team in the pool and target three points that could catapult them into the qualification places.

Rangers must be more ruthless

Rangers were dropped into pool A where they were expected to battle French Ligue 1 side, Lyon, for the top spot. The 55-time Scottish champions have made it to the latter stages of this tournament in each of the last two seasons under Gerrard. They may still force their way through to knockout football this term, but there’s much work to be done to achieve that. Gers have played two and lost two, failed to score while conceding three.

Since losing 1-0 away to Sparta Prague when last in Europa League action, the locals have beaten Hibs 2-1 and drawn 1-1 with Hearts. The latter came on Saturday and will be remembered as two points dropped, with the Jambos equalising on 90 minutes. Rangers had plenty of chances to put that game to bed before the late sucker-punch, and Gerrard has called on his men to be more ruthless in attack.

The former Liverpool and England man will hope to see star striker Alfredo Morelos return to scoring ways on Thursday. The Colombian is the club’s record scorer in Europe but has failed to live up to expectations this season and missed two great chances on Saturday.

Brondby the surprise package

Despite being written off as a team expected to finish bottom of a competitive group, Brondby have surprised a few so far and remain in the hunt for a top-two finish. The Danish champions have one point on the board, meaning victory in Govan on Thursday could push them past Sparta Prague and into second place. They have drawn one and lost one of their Europa League matches, failing to score while conceding three.

The Superliga side got off the mark when holding Sparta to a goalless finish at Brondby Stadium on matchday one but could not build on that. The Danish outfit lost 3-0 in Lyon last time, with Toko Ekambi scoring a double. The final score was harsh on the beaten side, who went into the break level and didn’t concede until the 64th minute before falling apart late.

The visitors are likely to adopt a similar approach in this match, frustrating Rangers, keeping the scores low and posing a threat on the break. They are a hard-working and well-organised side without the ball and will hope to upset the home crowd, who won’t be slow in voicing their displeasure following Saturday’s draw at Ibrox.

Gers favourite to relieve the pressure

All the pressure is on Rangers here, and it’ll be interesting to see how the likes of Morelos and James Tavernier deal with it. Fans remain upset at the weekend’s draw with Hearts and their team’s unconvincing start to the season in Scotland and Europe. Gerrard needs a big performance from his players in all areas of the park. The defence must eliminate silly mistakes, and the attack must take their chances.

Will they do that? The betting suggests so, and Rangers are 1.558/15 on the Betfair Exchange to grab a first win of the group at the third time of asking. Brondby are no mere opponents and will attract attention at 6.86/1 while the draw can be backed at 4.47/2.

Fans want more from Morelos

He may be Rangers top scorer in European competition, passing the previous record set by Ally McCoist, but fans want more from Morelos. He must get himself into the box and rediscover his scoring touch. The Colombian is 4.3100/30 to break the deadlock on Thursday.

Neither team has scored in this competition so far, which makes no in the both teams to score market look worthwhile at 1.9420/21. Under 2.5 goals is another bet worthy of our attention at 2.111/10.