Rangers begin their Europa League qualifying campaign against Macedonian club FK Shkupi at the Ibrox. New manager Steven Gerrard is set to take charge of his first competitive game as a Gers’ boss after his team thrashed FC Bury 6-0 in a warm-up game on Friday.
At the same stage last season, Rangers were humbled by a Luxembourg club Progres Niederkorn, which was quite an unexpected result. Gerrard will be keen to avoid that kind of a shock very early into his management career.
Here is how the Liverpool legend might line his team up on Thursday:
McGregor returned to the Ibrox for his second stint with the club, and began well by keeping a clean sheet in the warm-up game. Expect the veteran to start on Thursday as well.
Tavernier is quite an attacking fullback moving forward at every given opportunity. Gerrard will give him the license to impact the game by putting devilish crosses in, provided he does all the tracking back.
Goldson arrived at the Ibrox from Brighton earlier in the pre-season and was impressive in the warm-up game. The 25-year-old needs some game time to get back into match rhythm as he hasn’t played much football in the past couple of seasons.
Another new signing of this summer, the Croatian Katic will be hoping to make his mark in International football by performing well for the Gers. He was also impressive in the warm-up game, however, much will be judged as to how he performs at the highest level.
Declan John is an impressive left-back with massive potential to fulfil. Although Gerrard has bought Liverpool academy product Jon Flanagan from Anfield, he should give the Welshman a chance to impress.
McCrorie started as a defensive midfielder against FC Bury and excelled. As a result of that, the manager is likely to give him a chance ahead of Sean Goss.
Arfield, who arrived at the Ibrox for free from the Premier League club Burnley, had an excellent warm-up game as he scored two goals and looked menacing in midfield. He will be a key part of what Rangers do this season.
Candeias had a very impactful first season with the Gers and will be looking to further improve his game under Gerrard. The Portuguese needs to add a bit more consistency to his game.
Murphy joined Rangers in January on loan from Brighton but under the new management, has become a permanent signing. He will start on the left-wing, as he did for the second part of last season.
Windass likes to play as a number 10 predominantly but wouldn’t mind being deployed on the right-wing as he showed his versatility in the warm-up match against FC Bury.
The Colombian had an impressive campaign last time out, scoring 14 goals in the league. He is expected to lead the line for the upcoming season and relish a chance of playing under Gerrard.
