OPINION
Steven Gerrard threw a bit of a curveball to Rangers fans tonight by naming Jon Flanagan in the line-up to take on Villarreal in the Europa League.
The former Liverpool man hasn’t started a game since the 4-3 defeat against Spartak Moscow, and has only played 58 minutes in the last five games in the Premiership.
The official line-up was announced on the Rangers Twitter page ahead of the 8pm kick-off.
? Your #RangersFC team for tonight's @EuropaLeague match. pic.twitter.com/d6BI84F4bD
— Rangers Football Club (@RangersFC) November 29, 2018
OPINION
There are a few surprises in the line-up tonight. We were expecting Gareth McAuley to start again after his great display on Saturday. Instead, Connor Goldson and Joe Worrall take over duties in the centre of defence. There’s no Ovie Ejaria and Lassana Coulibaly comes back in. But the biggest surprise is Flanagan. He’s a right-back who’s not been playing well at left-back for Rangers and we were sure that Andy Halliday would continue where he’s been playing for the past few games. Elsewhere, it’s as expected with Alfredo Morelos leading the line and Allan McGregor hopefully shutting Villarreal out. Rangers got an early boost with the news that Spartak Moscow were beaten by Rapid Vienna in the other game in Group G. That means a draw tonight would be okay but a win would put them in the brink of qualification. One thing is certain, it’s going to be a noisy night at Ibrox.