Glasgow Rangers travel to Spain to take on Villarreal in the Europa League on Thursday.
There are plenty of reasons for Rangers fans to be nervous ahead of Thursday’s Europa League opener against Villarreal.
In Colombian international Carlos Bacca, the La Liga outfit have one of the best strikers in the competition. Manu Triguieros and Santi Cazorla provide real class and creativity in midfield, and Sergio Asenjo in goal is seriously underrated.
But there is one element of Villarreal’s game that should give Rangers hope. The Spaniards have a particular weakness when it comes to defending set-pieces, and this is something that a Rangers side likely to have very little possession should be looking to exploit.
Particularly if, as expected, Connor Goldson starts at the back. Standing at over 6ft 2ins, the former Brighton centre-back is one of the tallest players in Rangers squad and he has already shown this season how dangerous he can be from a dead-ball situation.
Goldson scored the winner against Ufa at Ibrox and also netted in the league against St Mirren. So he could be Rangers’ surprise hero if everything goes to plan on Thursday.
With Villarreal likely to dominate the ball, crosses into the box are perhaps Steven Gerrard’s best hope of pulling off a superb result.
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