Rangers return to Europa League action on Thursday night as they travel to Nice searching desperately for a much-needed victory.
While the Gers form in the European competition is actually quite good, their pitiful league form has piled the pressure on head coach Philippe Clement, with some reports stating a bad result against Nice could signal the end of his time as Rangers boss.
The Ibrox boss was boosted by the return of Ridvan Yilmaz from a three month injury lay-off at the weekend, but will head to the continent without the services of both Danilo and Ianis Hagi, with both ommitted from Europa League squad. Rabbi Matondo and Tom Lawrence remain unavailable through injury.
With Cyriel Dessers and Mohamed Diomande hauled off at half-time during Saturday’s drab 1-1 draw with Dundee United, Clement must decide whether to keep faith with the pair, or turn to someone new in order to breath fresh life into the team.
For their French opponents, the story is a little different. Despite losing just one of their last eight games in all competitions, Franck Haise’s side are five points behind Rangers in the Europa League table, having failed to win any of their opening four fixtures in competition. Failure to beat Rangers would effectively end their hopes of qualification for the knockout stage of the competition.
So who starts for Rangers this Thursday? Here, The Scotsman predict who will be named in the starting XI for the Gers clash against Nice:
1. GK: Jack Butland
Rangers' undisputed number one, Butland starts barring any last minute knocks. | SNS Group
2. RB: James Tavernier
Dropped in favour of Dujon Sterling in the weekend draw against Dundee United, Clement will look lean on Tavernier's experience, with his job seemingly hanging by a thread. | SNS Group
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3. CB: John Souttar
The Scotland centre-back is one of a few Rangers player that are showing steady form. Clement views him as his best centre-back, so he'll be a certain starter against Nice. | SNS Group
4. CB: Robin Propper
The Dutch centre-half was restored to the starting XI in the weekend draw against Dundee United. While he didn't pull up any trees, he is likely to partner Souttar in defence. | SNS Group