Lech Poznan vs Rangers preview: Europa League preview, team news, stats, kick-off time
Ryan Jack and Filip Helander remain out for Rangers but Bongani Zungu is set for his first European start for the club; follow with our dedicated live blog across Sky Sports' digital platforms and updates on Sky Sports News
Thursday 10 December 2020 20:31, UK
Team news and stats ahead of Lech Poznan vs Rangers in the Europa League group stage on Thursday (kick-off 5.55pm).
Team news
Bongani Zungu will make his first European start for Rangers but Ryan Jack - who has been out recently with a knee injury - will again be absent along with Filip Helander, who is now free from his Covid-19 quarantine.
Regarding his squad selection, Gerrard said: "Am I looking to protect the squad? I think you will see that in the team
selection and the squad that we have brought. Individuals will be protected. I obviously don't want to give anything away in terms of the team but I think it will be clear that we will make decisions for the future in the team selection.
"Having said that, we will still pick a team that we believe is very strong and pick a team that has individuals in who have been waiting patiently. We think it is a really important night for a lot of different reasons. I am not going to change the whole team, for sure, but there will definitely be changes from the weekend."
For Lech Poznan, they are likely to welcome defender Dorde Crnomarkovic back into the squad after his European suspension.
Who needs what?
Rangers have already qualified for the last 32 but will win Group D if they match Benfica's result against Standard Liege. Lech Poznan have already been eliminated.
How to follow
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Opta stats
- Rangers' 1-0 win over Lech Poznan on MD2 of this season's UEFA Europa League was their only previous encounter in European competition.
- Lech Poznan have lost all three of their major UEFA European matches against Scottish teams, losing twice against Sir Alex Ferguson's Aberdeen team in 1982-83 (Cup Winners' Cup) and Rangers this season.
- In all European competitions, Rangers are unbeaten in eight matches against Polish teams (W6 D2) since a 3-1 defeat to Górnik Zabrze in November 1969 in the Cup Winners' Cup.
- Rangers have won two of their last 19 away games in major UEFA European competition (D11 L6), though both wins were in the Europa League in 2020 (vs Braga in February and Standard Liège in October).
- Since the start of the 2018-19 season, no player has more UEFA Europa League assists than Rangers defender Borna Barisic (8, level with Wenderson Galeno).
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