Both teams can seal their place in the last 32 of the Europa League with a victory on Thursday; however, a draw would be more beneficial to the visitors who have the better head-to-head record as things stand.
With a new manager at the helm for a European night under the lights at Ibrox, the home supporters will act as a 12th man for Rangers, which could help to get them over the line and secure a narrow victory.
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Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Rangers win with a probability of 61.47%. A draw had a probability of 21.2% and a win for Sparta Prague had a probability of 17.36%.
The most likely scoreline for a Rangers win was 1-0 with a probability of 10.56%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (10.48%) and 2-1 (9.94%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (10.02%), while for a Sparta Prague win it was 0-1 (5.05%). The actual scoreline of 2-0 was predicted with a 10.5% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole and our data analysis both correctly predicted that Rangers would win this match.
