Neil Lennon predicts scoreline of Rangers v Aris Limassol in Europa League clash at Ibrox
Neil Lennon has predicted the scoreline of Rangers’ Europa League clash with Aris Limassol, suggesting Philippe Clement’s unbeaten start at Ibrox will continue.
The Light Blues welcome the Cypriot side to Glasgow in their penultimate group stage match of the campaign on Thursday 30 November, with a win potentially ensuring the Gers’ place in the knockout stages of the competition.
While Lennon expects Clement’s side to come away with all three points in Thursday’s meeting, he doesn’t think it will be an easy evening for Rangers, admitting that he does “fancy” the away to cause the Light Blues some problems in the final third.
Speaking on PLZ Soccer The Football Show (27 November) he said: “I think, simply teams don’t travel that well, the weather will play a part in it as well in Rangers’ favour. I think they’ll win it.
“I think 3-1, I fancy Aris to score one.”
True test
Perhaps one of the lowest moments of Rangers’ miserable start to the season was the defeat to Aris Limassol under the interim management of Steven Davis following the sacking of Michael Beale. The Gers were dreadful in Cyprus and lost 2-1.
It was a disastrous evening for the Light Blues and was a demonstration of just how disjointed and poor this Rangers side were. Since then, Clement has arrived in Glasgow and transformed the Gers’ fortunes leading them on an impressive unbeaten run both in the Scottish Premiership and the Europa League.
Now Clement has a chance to show just how far his side has come during his brief tenure in Glasgow and anything other than a win in front of the Ibrox crowd will be considered a failure and most of that Rangers support will be expecting a clean sheet as well.
While Lennon may fancy Aris to find the net, Rangers need to try and sort out their recent defensive issues as they have leaked goals in some crucial moments of matches. If Clement’s side wants to advance deep into the Europa League this season, they need to ensure that become more defensively resolute.
Hopefully, Lennon’s result prediction comes true, but it would be nice to see the Gers keep a clean sheet.
In other Rangers news, David McCarthy has mooted the possibility of Ianis Hagi making a January return to Ibrox