Fenerbahce v Rangers: Free Tips, Prediction and Odds

Rangers are likely to be in for a difficult evening when they go to Turkish side Fenerbahce for the first leg of their last-16 UEFA Europa League tie on Thursday.

The Scottish giants are not exactly firing on all cylinders at the moment and, with new boss Barry Ferguson still adjusting to the role, the visitors look set to suffer at the hands of Jose Mourinho's men.

Fenerbahce v Rangers betting tips and predictions

Fenerbahce to win & BTTS - 21/10

Fenerbahce are favourites to get the better of Rangers in the first leg on Thursday in what appears to be a very tricky test of the Scottish giants' UEFA Europa League credentials.

Rangers have impressed at times in this competition this season and did well to finish eighth in the table to avoid a play-off.

However, following another poor display at the weekend when they were beaten 2-1 at home by Motherwell in the Scottish Premiership, they look ill-equipped to handle a Fener side that are now unbeaten in their last 18 matches in all competitions.

Even though Mourinho's men only just made the play-offs when finishing 24th, they had a tough run of fixtures in the first stage, going up against Manchester United, Lyon, AZ Alkmaar and Athletic Bilbao amongst others.

However, they have been on a solid run of form of late with their long unbeaten run stretching to 18 games, during which they have picked up 13 wins and they are set to largely dominate against Ferguson's side.

Since succeeding the much-maligned Philippe Clement towards the end of last month, Ferguson has seen his team battle back well to beat Kilmarnock 4-2, although they were 2-0 down in that clash - before the disappointing weekend setback against Motherwell, the Gers going down 2-1 at home to leave them a huge 16 points off leaders and arch-rivals Celtic in the league.

Fener were impressive 5-2 winners over Anderlecht in the play-offs, securing a result-settling 3-0 home win in the first leg, and they will be confident ahead of Thursday's showdown.

Rangers may have to rely on a strong second leg back at Ibrox if they want to go through to the last eight and they should at least stay in contention in the tie overall by getting on the scoresheet in Istanbul.

The Glasgow side have scored in all of their Europa League games this season - a run of matches that includes testing fixtures against Man Utd, Malmo, Olympiacos and Lyon - and they can once again play their part, even if they may not be quite good enough to avoid defeat.

Edin Dzeko anytime goalscorer - 6/4

Despite being 39 later this month, Edin Dzeko is showing few signs of slowing down and he's enjoying a fine campaign with Fener up front.

The Bosnia skipper has plundered an impressive 19 goals in all competitions for the Turkish side this season, stats that include a three-goal haul in the Europa League and four in early UEFA Champions League qualifiers.

The former Manchester City forward clearly relishes going up against the best Europe has to offer and was on target in the 3-0 first-leg win over Anderlecht at home in the play-off round.

The veteran can have plenty of joy against a Rangers side that shipped 10 goals in their eight League Phase games and one that has kept just one clean sheet in their last nine outings.

Cyriel Dessers - Over 2.5 shots - 4/5

If Rangers are to trouble the hosts on Thursday, much will depend on how Cyriel Dessers fares in Turkey.

Dessers has hit a decent 21 goals in 42 matches all told for the Scottish giants this term, including two in the UEFA Europa League.

He may not add to his tally in Istanbul but he should be able to register some shots as he approaches the first leg in good shooting form.

The Nigeria international has had three shots in both of his last two outings, while in Rangers' most recent European clash - the 2-1 win over Union Saint-Gilloise in January - he also racked up three shots.

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This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.