- Jagiellonia form: Jagiellonia are unbeaten in their last five games in all competitions (W4, D1).
- Rangers form: Glasgow Rangers have won two, drawn one and lost two of their last five in all competitions.
- Jagiellonia home form: Jagiellonia have won four, drawn one and lost one of their six home games in all competitions.
First leg clash will be a chess match
Jagiellonia Białystok host Glasgow Rangers FC in a potentially very interesting first-leg contest at Stadion Miejski, Poland on Thursday. Adrian Siemieniec has made the Eagles a patient, possession-based team that build up play from the back and use their midfield triangles to control the tempo.
The hosts have been in excellent form in the build-up to this clash, winning six, drawing three and losing one of their last ten in all competitions. Jagiellonia are in their prime with a run of four wins, one draw and no defeats in their last five. The Eagles are scoring plenty of goals during this run and Sergio Lozano has been a spark for the team, providing three assists in that sequence.
Glasgow Rangers have been a bit up and down in recent times with five wins, one draw and four defeats in their last ten in all competitions. Derek McInnes has set the Gers up in a pragmatic way where organisation is first and foremost, and they are usually very compact without the ball, but can be dangerous when they break with pace.
Eagles can edge out the Gers in first-leg
Prediction
Jagiellonia arrive in better form than Rangers for this matchup and have a home field advantage, so they look a big favorite to win on the night. But the draw is not out of the question because the visitors have enough quality to hurt the hosts on the counter. As we said earlier, we're going for Jagiellonia to edge out a draw in this game, but the visitors' threat on the break should make it a close contest.
Odds & Betting
The market has Rangers as slight favorites at 2.57, but we feel that Jagiellonia, at 2.82, have enough about them to make them very live here, although the draw at 3.25 makes it a tight first-leg. Over 2.5 goals at 1.95 and Both Teams to Score at 1.7 are also decent bets, but we prefer the latter as an alternative wager.
Key statistics
- Thelo Aasgaard has been Rangers' sharpest finisher of late, with three goals in the last five as the club have scored nine goals in total.
- Jagiellonia have averaged 1.33 goals per game at home and conceded 0.83 per game on average in six home assignments, so they are a stingy team at home.
Tactical battle
They are likely to be the team in control of the game here and that sets up a chess match between Jagiellonia's slow build-up and Rangers' pace on the wings and vertical counters.
