Bayer 04 Leverkusen vs. Rangers FC 8/6/20 UEFA Europa League Soccer Pick, Odds, and Prediction

Bayer 04 Leverkusen is hosting Ranges FC at BayArena in the second leg of Round of 16 in the Europa League.

Bayern has had a decent season in Bundesliga where they were close to the Champions League, but in the end, Bayer ended the season in 5th place which got them in the Europa League. Offensively, Leverkusen was solid with 61 scored goals, and even though their defense was good with only 44 conceded goals, it was too much for them to reach that Champions League spot. After Bundesliga ended, Leverkusen was playing in the DFB Pokal finals against Bayern, and they lost 2-4. In the Europa League, Leverkusen got to the knockouts through the Champions League where they ended in 3rd place in their group. In the first round of knockouts in the Europa League, Leverkusen has beaten Porto 2-1 and 1-3. Havertz has scored 3 goals for Leverkusen in the Europa League, but unfortunately, he refused to play for Leverkusen for the rest of this competition, and he is close to signing with Chelsea. Alario added 2 goals. Paulinho and Amiri are both injured, and they will not be in the lineup for this match. Leverkusen is a talented team, but the absence of Havertz will be hard to replace, and I think it might cost Leverkusen a lot.

Rangers have played 5 games so far, and they have won all 5, even though the first 4 games were friendly matches. The Scottish Premiership started this past weekend, and Rangers were playing against Aberdeen on the road. Rangers were a much better team in this match with 51% of ball possession, 4 shots on goal, 6 corner kicks, and solid 85% of the correct passes. Rangers have won this match 0-1. In the Europa League, Rangers have won second place in their group with 9 points, while in the first round of the knockouts, Rangers have beaten Braga 3-2 and 0-1. Morelos has scored 6 goals for Rangers in the Europa League so far, but the rumors of him leaving the club are getting louder every day. Hagi added another 2 goals. Katic and Defoe are both injured. Rangers is a good team, and one of the best in Scotland, but they have been through a lot over the last 10 years, and I’m glad to see Rangers back in the Scottish Premiership and in the Europa League. With the Scottish Premiership season just warming up, Rangers might have some problems with consistency, but they look to be healthy and ready to roll.

Leverkusen has won the first leg of this matchup 1-3, which means Ranges need to score at least 3 goals in this game if they want to advance. Are Rangers capable of this, sure, but I’m not confident they can keep the clean sheet in this match. Leverkusen might be missing their star player, but they have depth, and they were playing in a stronger league.