Gio van Bronckhorst’s Rangers have been handed an injury lift ahead of the second-leg of their Europa League tie at Ibrox…
What’s the latest?
Borussia Dortmund manager Marco Rose has confirmed three injury blows for his side ahead of their trip to Ibrox on Thursday night.
He told Dortmund’s Twitter account: “Erling Haaland is not an issue for the game against Gladbach, Marius Wolf could become an option. Manuel Akanji is out for about three weeks with a muscle fiber tear in his calf. Thomas Meunier is not yet back in team training.”
Haaland, Akanji and Meunier all missed their clash with Borussia Monchengladbach on Sunday and it remains to be seen whether they will be back against Rangers, aside from the Swiss centre-back who has already been ruled out.
Delight
Rangers fans will surely be delighted with this news because of the boosts it potentially hands to their side.
Akanji did not have the best of evenings against the Ibrox giants last week, but he has shown in the Bundesliga that he is capable of delivering excellent performances. He has averaged a SofaScore rating of 6.98 in Germany, winning an impressive 67% of his duels and completing 90% of his passes.
This shows what he is capable of at his best and why his absence will be a boost for the Gers. They will not have to worry about him turning in one of his better displays and potentially keeping Alfredo Morelos quiet, which could encourage the Colombian and the likes of Ryan Kent and Scott Arfield.
FFC published an article ahead of the first leg in Germany explaining why Haaland being out for Dortmund was a huge advantage to Rangers. This will, therefore, be the case again if he now watches on from the sidelines, with Rose admitting that the Norweigan was not in contention to play any part this weekend.
His lack of involvement in the Bundesliga does not suggest that he will now come straight back into the starting XI against the Gers, although it is impossible to know what Dortmund are planning with him.
Meunier being out would also leave them without their first-choice right-back. He has averaged a SofaScore rating of 6.94 in the Bundesliga, scoring twice and providing four assists. This shows that he has the ability to make a difference with excellent displays at full-back, which is why Rangers fans will be buzzing to read that he looks set to miss out.
AND in other news, Rangers can repeat Aribo masterclass with “constant threat” who’s “going to blossom”…
from FootballFanCast.com https://ift.tt/03e6hmG
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