Success! Thank you for signing up to Independent Betting
Rangers vs Servette betting tips:
- Rangers to win – 8/15 with Betway
- Total booking points: Over 45 – 19/20 with William Hill
- Over 2.5 goals – 13/20 with BetUK
Rangers host Swiss side Servette at Ibrox on Wednesday (7:45pm, BBC Scotland) in the first leg of their Champions League third qualifying round tie.
The winners will face either PSV Eindhoven or Sturm Graz in the play-off round for the Group Stage proper, while the losers will go into the Europa League group stage.
Although there’s guaranteed European football either way, there’s a much bigger prize at stake here.
The Scottish giants have much the better pedigree in continental competition and football betting sites make them strong favourites to reach the next round.
Rangers vs Servette tips: Routine home win is expected
Rangers began their Scottish Premiership campaign in disappointing fashion on Saturday when they were beaten 1-0 at Kilmarnock.
Their opponents on Wednesday have had a more positive start to 2023/24, with five points from their opening three league games and a penalty shoot-out victory over Genk in the previous round of this competition.
Their 2-2 draw in Belgium was particularly notable as they went down to 10 men in just the third minute, yet twice equalised after going a goal down. The Swiss side also won their final three away games in the league last season and have already taken three points on the road this term.
However, this will be a significant step up for Servette. They are ranked 205th in the Uefa coefficients table, and while they did well to beat the Belgian side who are 65 places above them, Rangers are 30th.
Despite a very disappointing Champions League group stage last season, with six defeats from six, the Gers beat Union SG and drew with PSV at home in the qualifying phase.
As such, Michael Beale’s side should prevail against a club who haven’t won an away game in Europe for over a decade.
Tip: Full time result Rangers win – 8/15 with Betway
Referee may influence the match
Rangers’ first match of 2023/24 passed off in sedate fashion, with referee Willie Collum keeping his cards firmly in his pocket throughout.
That is a relatively rare occurrence in a Gers match, as their Scottish Premiership fixtures last season saw an average of 4.1 bookings. At first glance that seems quite high, yet Servette’s matches in the 2022/23 Swiss Super League averaged 4.5 yellow cards.
Based on this, it should be a physical encounter. Yet a lot will depend on the referee – there were only three bookings per match in Rangers’ last Champions League group stage campaign, for instance.
The bad news for fans of physical football in which lots is allowed to go unpunished is that match referee Donatas Rumsas appears to love nothing more than booking players.
Having averaged 4.1 yellow cards per game across his career, the Lithuanian official has been above that mark in continental competitions. In his one previous Champions League qualifier, Rumsas showed four yellows, one red card and awarded a penalty.
This combination of teams and referee should ensure a degree of chaos and plenty of cards. Most betting sites will offer an array of betting markets on the card count close to kick-off.
Tip: Over 4.5 cards – 19/20 with William Hill
Rangers vs Servette tips: Expect goals
It’s fair to expect goals as well as cards at Ibrox on Wednesday.
As well as drawing 2-2 in Belgium in the previous round, Servette kicked off their league campaign for this season with a 3-1 victory at Grasshopper Club.
While they drew 1-1 at FC Stade Lausanne-Ouchy on Saturday, the teams combined to produce 25 shots, four big chances and a shade over three expected goals, so it should really have been a higher scoring affair.
It’s a similar story for Rangers in front of their own fans. Their last nine European matches have all paid out on over 2.5 goals and three of the last four went higher than that.
And it was a similar story at Ibrox in 2022/23, with the 24 games there seeing an average of 3.54 goals and only six featuring fewer than three.
Servette will likely try to keep things tight ahead of the second leg but the recent history of the two clubs, even though they’ve never previously met, does not hint at a low scoring match.
Updated by
Last Updated: 14th March 2024, 07:22 AM
