Porto v Rangers
Thursday, 17:55
Live on BT Sport
Thursday, 17:55
Live on BT Sport
Porto poised to strike
What a way to open the show as Steven Gerrard takes his Rangers side to Estadio do Dragao for round three of the Europa League group stages. Each of the four teams involved in Group G have three points on the board, having won one and lost one so far. The pool is finely poised but who will take a hold of things and move into a commanding position? It's there to be won and Porto will rate their chances of claiming three points in front of their own fans and racing into pole position.
Porto finished two behind Primeira Liga champions Benfica last season and sit third after seven games of this campaign. Dragons have won six and lost one of their first seven, leaving them just a point off the pace set by FC Famalicao. They beat Young Boys 2-1 at this venue in their Europa League opener but fell to a 2-0 defeat at Feyenoord last time. The Betfair Exchange betting has a home win marked as 1.51 hot favourite.
Rangers conceded late in Bern
Rangers suffered a mixed bag of results in the group stages of this competition, having battled through a marathon run of qualifiers. The light blues were punch perfect when sending Feyenoord to the canvas at Ibrox on 19 September, strolling to a 1-0 win thanks to a spectacular strike from on-loan Liverpool winger Sheyi Ojo. It could have been more had James Tavernier held his nerve from the penalty spot early in the contest.
Gers went into the international break top of the Scottish Premiership following a fantastic run of results in September and early October, including 5-0 wins over Aberdeen and Hamilton. The only blot on their copybook came in the form of a painful 2-1 defeat at Young Boys in this competition. Rangers took the lead that night through Alfredo Morelos but were undone by replies from Roger Assale and a stoppage time winner from Christian Fassnacht, scored with 93 minutes on the clock. The away win has been written off as a 7.20 no hoper on the Exchange, the draw trading at 4.70.
Gers went into the international break top of the Scottish Premiership following a fantastic run of results in September and early October, including 5-0 wins over Aberdeen and Hamilton. The only blot on their copybook came in the form of a painful 2-1 defeat at Young Boys in this competition. Rangers took the lead that night through Alfredo Morelos but were undone by replies from Roger Assale and a stoppage time winner from Christian Fassnacht, scored with 93 minutes on the clock. The away win has been written off as a 7.20 no hoper on the Exchange, the draw trading at 4.70.
Celtic v Lazio
Thursday, 20:00
Live on BT Sport
Thursday, 20:00
Live on BT Sport
Celtic scored six on Saturday
One of the standout fixtures of the evening takes place in Glasgow as Scottish champions Celtic host Serie A's eighth team Lazio in Europa League Group E from 8.00pm. Neil Lennon's Hoops are well aware of the size of the task at hand but they line-up with confidence, sitting top of the pile with four points claimed from a possible six. Lazio can be found in third with three points on the board. There's everything to play for, both in this match and in the group.
There's no reason why Celtic can't progress to the knockout stages of this competition and that would help take the sting out of missing out on Champions League riches. The locals started with a hard-fought 1-1 draw away to Rennes last month and followed that with an important 2-0 victory over old rivals CFR Cluj at this venue in round two. Celtic boosted confidence further with an incredible 6-0 weekend win over Ross County at Parkhead, netting four in nine second-half minutes. They're ready for this challenge and the Betfair Exchange betting has them as 2.72 slight second favourites.
Lazio seventh in Serie A
The visitors haven't had things as good as their hosts so far, either on the continent or domestically. Lazio can be found down in seventh place in Serie A with their stats showing three wins, three draws and two defeats. They have scored 16 goals, conceded nine and taken just five of the last dozen points available to them in the top-flight of Italian football. Lazio will surely welcome the distraction of playing in the Europa League.
Simone Inzaghi's troops were picked by many to progress to the next stage as Europa League Group E champions but got off to the worst possible start when losing 2-1 in their opening match away to Cluj. Jacinto Quissaanga opened the scoring that evening, but Lazio were undone by two sucker punches. They dusted themselves down to fire back, recording a 2-1 home win over Rennes on 3 October. The visitors board their flight to Glasgow on the back of an entertaining six-goal weekend draw with Atalanta. Another share of the spoils is 3.60 on the Betfair Exchange, the away day 2.68.
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