Keeping Samuel Chukweze quiet key to Rangers hopes of victory over Villarreal

Add as preferred source on Google

Rangers will have been busy doing their homework on Villarreal in the weeks leading up to Thursday’s Europa League clash with the Spaniards but there is still one element who could be an unknown quantity: Samuel Chukweze.

The 19-year-old has stepped up from the club’s B team and has already scored three times and provided an assist in seven games since he broke into the first team set-up.

The latest of those goals came on Sunday evening as he struck the winner against fellow Europa League competitors Real Betis, scoring in back to back games for the first time.

Rangers will have to control his pace and power if they are to manage to win as they need to on Thursday. Whilst their defence is far more mobile under Steven Gerrard than it has been in the recent past, he still poses a threat.

With so little to go off of, Andy Halliday may struggle to know just what to expect as he cuts in from the right wing, which is where he has almost always been deployed.

Having made his debut against Rangers in the reverse fixture, Chukweze will have a point to prove in Glasgow and whether he starts or comes off the bench, he will pose a major threat.