PSV Eindhoven welcome Rangers to Philips Stadion on Wednesday night as they play out the second leg of their Champions League play-off.
Key Takeaways
- It’s all to play for in the second leg as Rangers and PSV drew 2-2 in the first leg at Ibrox
- The Gers are unbeaten in their last six matches across all competitions heading into this one
- PSV didn’t play over the weekend so will have fresher legs than their opponents
PSV and Rangers met at the same stage of this competition last year and even the first leg resulted in the same scoreline as this time around, also at Ibrox. Rangers came away with a 1-0 triumph in the second leg last term as they managed to deny PSV a spot in the group stage.
PSV Eindhoven Form
It has been an incredibly busy summer for the Dutch outfit who have featured in the Dutch Super Cup, Eredivisie and Champions League qualifiers in August. However, they had a much-needed rest over the weekend as they didn’t have a league match.
Nevertheless, PSV have been superb this season and remain unbeaten. They started off with a Super Cup triumph over champions Feyenoord before easing past Sturm Graz in the third qualifying round of the Champions League. They have also won both of their two league matches played thus far.
Rangers Form
After a poor start to the season for the Gers which saw them lose 1-0 on the opening day to Kilmarnock, they have gone unbeaten since. They managed to get past Swiss side Servette in the third qualifying round of the Champions League and have also advanced into the quarter-finals of the Scottish League Cup.
Rangers are on the back of consecutive Scottish Premiership victories too, defeating Livingston 4-0 and Ross County 2-0 away from home last time out. Kemar Roofe and James Tavernier got on the scoresheet in their most recent outing.
Head-to-Head
Rangers came away with a narrow 3-2 aggregate victory against PSV in this tie last term. The Dutch side will be hoping for revenge here. The first leg this time around saw PSV come from behind twice to draw 2-2. The two sides also met in the round of 16 of the Europa League in 2011. The first leg at Ibrox ended in a 0-0 draw before PSV won 1-0 in the return leg.
Team News
The hosts will be without Koen Jansen here as he remains sidelined due to injury. Jamal Gonzaga, Julian Kwaaitaal, Mauro Junior, Armando Obispo and Fredrik Oppegard are all set to miss out as they have yet to feature so far this season. Starting centre-backs Andre Ramalho and Olivier Boscagli are dealing with slight issues but both players should be able to feature in this one.
Steven Davis and Ridvan Yilmaz are set to remain out as they continue to recover from long-term injury. The latter is also ineligible and can’t feature after being left out of the squad by head coach Micahel Beale. So too are Tom Lawrence and Kemar Roofe so they will have to sit out.
Key Players
Yorbe Vertessen has scored in both Eredivisie matches for PSV so far this term but only managed to feature off the bench in the first leg. He will be pushing for a start here. Forward Luuk de Jong will be key and he has scored in his last three consecutive appearances, including the first leg.
Fresh off scoring a fantastic goal against Ross County at the weekend, Tavernier will be the main man for the visitors. Abdallah Sima will be looking to make an impact up top after scoring the opener in the first leg.
How to watch on TV or Online
The crucial play-off second leg between PSV and Rangers will be available to watch live on TNT Sports 1 in the UK.
Final Thoughts
Like the first leg, we should be in for goals in what will likely be yet another entertaining affair. Home advantage should just about favour PSV to get past Rangers, especially after being able to rest up over the weekend.
Eredivisie
UEFA Champions League
Premiership