Champions League betting odds today: Rangers vs Liverpool
Wednesday is always an exciting day for many sports lovers the world over during the champions league season. One thing is the entertainment from the beautiful football played by top European teams but another thing adds even more excitement to it; betting.
So as we gear up for the reverse fixture between Rangers and Liverpool at the Ibrox stadium, we look at the best Champions League betting odds today and how fans can win some money to end their evening aside from getting entertained.
Rangers are back in the Champions League for the first time in 12 years and despite last season’s stellar run in the Europa League that saw them emerge as runners-up, they are not having a good thing going on in the top league. Three defeats out of three are their welcome package and it could end 4 over 4 today unless something magical work out at the Ibrox.
Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s men slayed Borrusia Dortmund, RB Leipzig and Sevilla before coming unstuck against Eintracht Frankfurt at the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán in Seville. However, they have been poor in the Champions League, shipping in 9 goals and scoring none in three matches.
Against Liverpool at Anfield last week, Bronckhorst set up his men with a five-man defence but they still could not contain an out-of-form Liverpool side with beleaguered England full-back Trent-Alexander Anorld and Mohammed Salah scoring either side of the half to ease the pressure on Jurgen Klopp. Allan McGregor made eight crucial saves in the night to keep the scoreline respectable.
A 4-0 mulling of St Mirren over the weekend in the Premiership was a welcome relief and a big boost for The Gers and the Ibrox will certainly produce a hostile night for Liverpool as Rangers’ mission is clear. They are not out of qualification yet with Liverpool who is second only on six points and Ajax on three, meaning a string of good results in the last three matches could be definitive.
Liverpool could not match the powers of league leaders Arsenal when the two sides met on Saturday and despite Darwin Nunez equalizer and Roberto Firmino’s effort restoring parity after Bukayo Saka restored Arsenal’s lead, Saka would finish the job from the spot with 14 minutes left to play. The mood at Anfield won’t be exactly an encouraging one considering how far they have fallen behind in the league just after nine matches but that should not be a big worry against Rangers as they will hope to at least go far in Europe.
Recent Form
Rangers are winless in three outings in the Champions League group stage this season after winning three out of four in the play-off stages including two clean sheets and six goals scored against four conceded. They have faired better in the Premiership, with three wins out of four with the only defeat coming in the first week of September against old rivals Celtic. That gives them a record of four defeats in seven since the start of September. They have not lost a match by less than two goals within that period and also have not won by less than the same margin though they have failed to score in each of their four defeats while only conceding in one of the wins(2-1) against Dundee United.
The last time a match involving rangers ended in with less than two goals was in August against PSV in the Champions League play-off.
Liverpool has been abysmal this season and has already seen a huge gap between them and league leaders Arsenal and Manchester. They also suffered a humbling defeat in Naples against Group A leaders, Napoli. Four draws, two defeats and two wins in eight league matches is low by the standards they set in the last few seasons. They have not been involved in any match that produced less than two goals with the last of such coming in the first week of September in the Merseyside derby against Everton which ended in a goalless draw. Since then they have kept only one clean sheet in five attempts with that coming against Rangers last week.
Team News
Giovanni van Bronckhorst suggested that there would be a change in approach on Wednesday as against the last time out against the same side last week, which suggests he could revert to a back-four system and we’re tempted to believe he would opt for the side that won against St Mirren over the weekend and that means Colak who scored a brace against St Mirren will be the pivot of the attack. In a 4-2-3-1 system, he will be supported by Kent and Sakala on the wings with Arfield playing directly behind him. No further injuries on the team have been reported apart from those that were already absent in the last match due to injury. Kemar Roofe is doubtful for the game but Nmandi Ofobor, John Souttar and Filip Helander are all expected back by the end of the month with Tom Lawrence and Ianis Hagi expected back in November.
Liverpool has Trent Alexander-Arnold, Naby Keita, Curtis Jones, Arthur and Oxlade-Chamberlain out till late October with Andy Robertson expected back in a few days. Luis Diaz and Joel Matip won’t however be ready until after this month. Firmino will be rewarded for his goal against Arsenal with a start in the front three alongside Mohammed Salah and Darwin Nunez. Meanwhile, Joe Gomez and Ibrahima Konate will come in for Trent Alexander-Arnold and Joel Matip with Jota expected to maintain his spot in the starting XI.
Rangers: McGregor, Davies, Goldson, Barisic, Tavernier, Jack, Ludstram, Arfield, Matondo, Sakala, Colak.
Liverpool: Alisson; Gomez, Konate, Van Dijk, Tsimikas; Fabinho, Thiago; Salah, Firmino, Jota; Nunez
Prediction: For our Champions League best bets for today, we are putting our money on Liverpool to claim a win in a high-scoring match which will produce over 3.5 goals. Rangers could, however, pull a fast one and as that our bookies are favouring them to give a good fight and that will result in a 2-3 win for Liverpool.
