Real Betis entertain Rangers in the Europa League on Thursday evening
Real Betis entertain Rangers in the Europa League on Thursday evening
The top two in Group C go head-to-head in the Europa League on Thursday evening with second-placed Rangers looking to get one over on leaders Real Betis, therefore now is an excellent time to register with any of our featured UK and Irish betting sites and claim some exclusive Rangers free bet bonuses and other great Europa League offers ahead of this clash.
Kick-off: 8pm UK Time, Thursday 14th December 2023
Both Rangers and Real Betis are in with a chance of going straight through to the last sixteen of the Europa League on Thursday evening but similarly, they could find themselves dropping down to the Europa Conference League from what has proven to be a hugely competitive Group C.
Europa League Group C is the only group from which no side has yet guaranteed for themselves a place in the knockout stages of the competition, however Rangers will look to make it through to the last sixteen with a win over Real Betis on Thursday evening. Betis are currently at the summit of the group table but given that they sit just one point clear of second-placed Rangers and two ahead of third-placed Sparta Prague, there is a chance that the Spanish side could finish third if results go against them this week. Their advantage means that a draw here would be enough to see them through to the knockout stages but it wouldn’t be enough to see them into the last sixteen if Sparta beat Limassol in the other group match.
Real Betis have lost just two of their last eighteen games but these two defeats came in this tournament, against Sparta and Rangers. With the Scottish side enjoying some fine domestic form and sitting second in their Europa League group table on the back of some excellent performances, the visitors will be confident of claiming all three points here and thus avoiding the need to go through the play-offs.
New Rangers boss Philippe Clement has enjoyed an excellent start to life at Ibrox, leading the side into a cup final and managing to close the gap between his side and Celtic to five points with a game-in-hand in the Scottish Premiership. Rangers’ superior head-to-head record over Sparta Prague may prove to be crucial with just a single point separating the sides in the Europa League table but either way, Rangers will be going all-out for a positive result here.
The Betis squad has been ravaged by injury but they have been enjoying some excellent form in front of their own home fans. This home advantage may well give them the edge in this one but we envisage this being a closely-fought affair and we’ll be siding with the spoils being shared between the top-two in Group C.