Charlie Nicholas makes Rangers prediction for Young Boys tie

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Charlie Nicholas has told Sky Sports that he is expecting Rangers to secure a 1-1 draw from their clash with Young Boys on Thursday, and insisted that that would be an amazing start to the Europa League for the Gers.

Steven Gerrard’s side kicked off the group-stages in brilliant fashion last month. They beat Feyenoord 1-0 on an emotional night at Ibrox.

They sit second in the group, but could potentially move six points clear of the bottom two sides should they win in Switzerland and Porto beat the Eredivisie outfit in the other game on Thursday.

Nicholas suggested that he is not expecting Rangers to get the victory. However, he does believe that they will secure a result that they will be extremely happy with.

“Young Boys have always been a team that can take a scalp or two,” he told Sky Sports as he explained why he is expecting a 1-1 draw. “Rangers have responded well to their tame performance against Celtic a few weeks back. It was a statement of intent at the weekend as they hammered Aberdeen in the Scottish Premiership. Steven Gerrard’s players are taking his points on board.

“He wants to play with speed, aggression – how he played. Rangers are not a bad side but they will only be getting 45-50 per cent of the ball as opposed to the 70 per cent they get in Scotland. Rangers are in a good place and this result would mean an amazing start for them in the competition.”

TBR’s View

Rangers came agonisingly close to qualifying out of the group-stages last season. So it would be a real statement if they could go one step further this year, especially given the quality within their group.

It is arguably a stronger group than last year. In particular, the double-header with Porto looks to be a daunting task for the Light Blues.

So it would be a fantastic platform to build from if they can go into those games unbeaten – particularly if they do manage to make it two wins from two.