Comments and predictions for Fenerbahce vs Rangers: Earthquake in Istanbul

Latest Fenerbahce vs Rangers team information

Fenerbahce's Jayden Oosterwolde and Rodrigo Becao have both suffered serious knee injuries, which will keep them out for the rest of the season. Meanwhile, Diego Carlos (knee) and Ismail Yuksek (muscle) are still recovering and are not available.

Fred and Bright Osayi-Samuel are suspended due to yellow cards, which means Sofyan Amrabat will likely be used to replace Fred in midfield, while Mert Muldur takes the right-back position in place of Osayi-Samuel.

Youssef En-Nesyri is Fenerbahce's top scorer this season with 26 goals in all competitions, including six in the Europa League. The Moroccan striker is expected to continue leading the attack, along with two experienced veterans, Edin Dzeko (38) and Dusan Tadic (36).

On the Rangers side, winger Oscar Cortes is still unable to return due to an undisclosed injury. Centre-back Leon King also left the team last weekend to join Queen's Park on an emergency loan.

John Souttar is on the mend after a calf injury kept him out of the defeat to Motherwell. If he recovers in time, he could start at centre-back alongside Robin Propper, allowing captain James Tavernier to return to his preferred right-back position. Tavernier made his 500th Rangers appearance last time out, but as a centre-back.

Connor Barron and Nedim Bajrami are both competing for a starting spot in midfield after starting on the bench at the weekend, while Ferguson will have to decide whether to use either or both Dessers and Hamza Igamane up front.

Latest expected lineup Fenerbahce vs Rangers

Fenerbahce:

Egribayrat; Skriniar, Soyuncu, Akcicek; Muldur, Amrabat, Szymanski, Kostic; Tadic; En-Neysri, Dzeko

Rangers:

Butland; Tavernier, Souttar, Propper, Jefte; Diomande, Raskin; Cerny, Igamane, Hagi; Dessers

Latest football commentary on Fenerbahce vs Rangers

Fenerbahce are in impressive form, having not lost a game since December 11. The Turkish side extended their unbeaten run to 18 games after a convincing 3-0 win over Antalyaspor in the league last weekend.

Mert Muldur, Dusan Tadic and Youssef En-Nesyri all scored in the first 30 minutes of the game, helping Fenerbahce secure all three points and close the gap on leaders Galatasaray to four points. They also showed solidity in defense, not allowing their opponents to have any shots on target throughout the 90 minutes.

The win came despite Fenerbahce being without manager Jose Mourinho, who is serving a two-match domestic suspension for his controversial comments about Turkish referees. However, the 62-year-old will return to the dugout for Thursday's Europa League clash with Rangers.

Mourinho is aiming for his second Europa League title, having previously guided Manchester United to the title in 2016-17. Fenerbahce will be hoping the Portuguese can take them beyond the round of 16 for the first time since 2012-13, when they reached the semi-finals.

Fenerbahce have every reason to be confident against Rangers, having never lost to a Scottish side in European competition. However, their head-to-head record is fairly even, with one win and three draws in four meetings, with the only win coming against Rangers in the 2001 Champions League qualifiers, with a 2-1 aggregate score.

Rangers failed to build on their first win under manager Barry Ferguson as they lost 2-1 at home to Motherwell last weekend.

After trailing by two goals in the first half, Rangers pulled one back in the 54th minute through Cyriel Dessers, his 21st goal of the season. However, VAR ruled out the striker's late equaliser, condemning Rangers to a third consecutive home defeat, something that hasn't happened in over a decade.

Ferguson has had a rocky return to Ibrox, where he made 409 appearances in two spells with Rangers. His side are now 16 points behind arch-rivals Celtic in the title race. Rangers, however, can feel more confident away from home, having won their last three away games and lost just one of their last seven Europa League games away from Glasgow.

However, Rangers' record in the last 16 of major European competitions is not very encouraging, with them only getting through two of their previous 11 attempts, including wins over Werder Bremen in the 2007-08 UEFA Cup and Red Star Belgrade in the 2021-22 Europa League, on their way to the final.

Their aim now is to avoid being knocked out of the Europa League last 16 for the second successive season, having been beaten 3-2 on aggregate by Benfica at the same stage last year.

Latest Fenerbahce vs Rangers score prediction

Based on the above football comments, we and the world's leading football sites have given the results of the match.Fenerbahce vs Rangersas follows:

• Sportsmole:Fenerbahce 2-0 Rangers

• WhoScore:Fenerbahce 2-1 Rangers
• Our newspaper predicts:Fenerbahce 2-1 Rangers

When and where to watch Fenerbahce vs Rangers live?

To watch the live match Fenerbahce vs Rangers in the Europa League taking place at 0:45 on March 7, viewers can watch on TVK+ Sport,K+PMor online sports channels. Wish you have fun watching football.