RANGERS will kick-off their Europa League campaign with a tricky test away to Belgium to take on Standard Liege, where a win for Steven Gerrard’s men would put the Ibrox club in an excellent position from the get-go.
Here, we take a look at the numbers behind three of Liege’s key players and explain why they will need to be closely watched on Thursday evening.
Nicolas Raskin
The young midfielder is a dynamic presence in the middle of the park for Liege and will need to be closely marshalled by the likes of Ryan Jack. An effective player both in and out of possession, if Rangers can keep him quiet – and that’s a big if – they will do their chances of winning the world of good.
The 19-year-old tends to cover a lot of ground in midfield but Rangers’ impressive shape in European outings would suggest that Steven Gerrard already has a system in place in place that can constrict space in the middle of the park and effectively nullify the threat posed by the box-to-box player.
Raskin attempts 9.7 defensive duels per game on average – the seventh-highest rate of any midfielder in the Belgian top flight this season – highlighting his work rate and wins over half of them.
He is dangerous on the ball too, though: 75% of his passes into the final third reach their intended target which places him inside the top 15 players in his league in this regard, and he has a goal and three assists to his name in nine Juliper League outings this term.
Zinho Vanheudsen
The centre-half has been widely tipped for a big future and at the age of 21 is already one of the most accomplished defenders in Belgium. He’s a solid presence at the back – and a lively one, making over six interceptions per 90 minutes on average, demonstrating his active style of defending.
However, Rangers will need to be wary of his distribution. Often in Europe, Gerrard likes his side to sit off the opposition and only press when they cross the halfway line, generally allowing central defenders time on the ball – but this is something Vanheusden thrives on.
He attempts 8.3 passes into the final third per game with a 75% accuracy rate and averages slightly over 10 progressive passes (where the ball advances at least 10 metres up the pitch) per game, placing the defender inside the league’s top 25 players in this metric.
Additionally, Vanheudsen is comfortable with the ball at his feet and driving out of defence, completing three progressive runs (dribbles where the ball is advanced at least 10 metres up the pitch) per game. For a comparison, think of someone like Celtic defender Kris Ajer, who is able to carry the ball out of defence and effectively create an extra man in midfield with his forays forward.
Michel-Ange Balikwisha
The 19-year-old is a bit of an unknown prospect in truth, only making his senior debut for Liege this season but with the Belgians short of bodies in attack, it’s likely that Balikwisha will get the nod to lead the line.
He spent last season playing for Liege’s Under-21s and Under-19s and is a winger by trade but still carries a threat in front of goal. He’s scored twice this season in the league and has two assists from the qualifying rounds of the Europa League when playing in his favoured position but was unable to find the net against Club Brugge at the weekend when deployed as a striker.
In that game, he was unable to get on the scoresheet but finished the match with an expected goals (xG) of 0.79. What this means, essentially, is that he got into good positions and had decent opportunities to score – and statistically speaking, probably should have – but failed to take his chances when they arose.
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