Viktoria Plzen vs Rangers predictions: Gers to deliver Czech mate at the Doosan
Steve Palmer
Rangers won 3-0 in the home leg against Plzen
Viktoria Plzen have not won any of three home games
Recommended bet: Rangers Draw No Bet
Rangers have put aside questionable early-season league form by producing some decent efforts in the UEFA Champions League qualifiers and one more at Viktoria Plzen will see them into the play-off round.
A 3-0 win over Plzen in the home leg has Russell Martin's men in the box seat, though the Czechs created enough chances in Glasgow for them to believe mission impossible might not be beyond them.
The latest Viktoria Plzen vs Rangers odds are available on LiveScore Bet
Team news
Thelo Aaasgaard and Hamza Igamane have trained after picking up injuries to give Russell Martin a boost. The former Southampton boss is also hoping that now on-loan Spurs frontman Mikey Moore has turned 18 he can go straight into the squad.
Plzen have sold star man Pavel Sulc and are light on creativity without him.
Midfielder Adrian Zeljkovic comes back in after a one-game ban and first-choice keeper Martin Jedlicka is fit again.
The stats
Rangers are unbeaten in 10 matches across all competitions but their last four away games have all ended in draws.
Each of their five games this season has produced either two or three goals.
Matej Vydra, Plzen's ex-Derby and Burnley frontman, has scored four goals this season.
Of the 16 goals in Plzen's six games this term, 12 have been scored in the first half.
The Czech side have not won in three at home this term.
The latest Viktoria Plzen vs Rangers odds are available on LiveScore Bet
Prediction
Rangers' struggles domestically are well-enough chronicled, with a pair of underwhelming 1-1 draws against Motherwell and Dundee close enough to a white flag in the title race against Celtic after only just two games.
But Viktoria Plzen are hardly ripping up trees in the Czech top flight where also a couple of tame 1-1 draws with Jablonec and Slovacko have left them eighth in the 16-team division.
They showed enough about themselves in the 3-0 loss at Ibrox — in which they fired off 18 shots — to suggest they can play. But Rangers played them off the park for long periods.
Now Miroslav Koubek's team find themselves in the tricky position of having to go for broke to have even a sniff of a place in the play-off round.
This looks like a situation where Russell Martin's keep-ball philosophy could prove critical and the Scottish giants, who have drawn 1-1 at Panathinaikos already this season, have a real chance of adding to their advantage.
At the very least they are worth supporting with the draw no bet as a safety net.
