Manchester Utd vs Rangers prediction: EUROPE: Europa League – League phase betting tips on match 2025-01-22 20:00.
[p]In the wake of a 3-1 defeat to Brighton on Sunday, head coach Ruben Amorim boldly confessed he’s in charge of “maybe the worst team in the history of Manchester United”. The Portuguese coach is scrambling for ways to inspire his beleaguered squad having picked up just 11 points from his first 11 Premier League games in charge (W3, D2, L6), but the picture looks far better in the UEFA Europa League (UEL), in which the Red Devils remain unbeaten and inside the top-eight (W3, D3).[/p]
[p]It’s on home soil where United have been really struggling with four defeats from their last five matches at Old Trafford (W1), but that’s not something that usually translates to the UEL where they’ve lost just once as hosts in this competition since March 2012 (W20, D6). That goes some way to explaining their favourites tag, which if they live up to, would make Amorim just the third United manager to win his first three European games in charge.[/p]
[p]The previous two, Sir Matt Busby and Sir Alex Ferguson, were both born and bred around Glasgow, where Rangers are currently losing the fight for Old Firm supremacy with bitter rivals Celtic. A 13-point deficit in the Scottish Premiership means Philippe Clement will likely be prioritising the UEL going forward, as they too occupy a top-eight position pre-round.[/p]
[p]Clement has gone some way to relieve the pressure on his position with a seven-match unbeaten run across all competitions (W4, D3). He’s found more issues on the road where his side are winless since early December (D3, L1), and that looks unlikely to change here given that Rangers have won just one of their eight away matches against English opposition in Europe (D2, L5), with the sole success coming way back in 1992/93 over Leeds![/p]
[p]Key battle: United captain Bruno Fernandes could bring up a half-century of UEL appearances here – only Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (40) has more direct goal contributions than his 37 in the competition’s history (G20, A17). Rangers centre-back Leon Balogun could be tasked with keeping him quiet while retaining one eye forward after scoring and assisting in a 15-minute cameo from the bench against Aberdeen last week.[/p]
[p]Hot stat: Man Utd have never conceded a goal against Rangers in four previous meetings (W3, D1).[/p]
[p][i]Written by Ryan Fisher[/i][/p]