Stats experts write Rangers off vs Genk as Celtic told to take inspiration from Gianluigi Donnarumma in key call
Russell Martin faces the pressure of his first Europa League clash as Rangers manager this week.
Pressure continues to build on Russell Martin’s shoulders, despite Rangers’ win over Hibs in the Premier Sports Cup. A big test presents itself this week when they face their first opponent of the Europa League campaign.
The Gers are up against Genk before they return to Scottish Premiership action against Livingston away from home. Rangers have fallen as far as 11th in the league table as they continue their search for their first win.
As tensions mount in and around Ibrox, we’ve rounded up some of the latest headlines for both Rangers and Celtic ahead of their respective clashes in Europe this week.
Opta predictions back Genk to beat Rangers
Rangers will face Genk in the Europa League on Thursday and the pressure is sky-high for Martin, with a large amount of fans fiercely stood against him. However, it doesn’t look like things are going to get any easier for the manager, as recent predictions see the odds stacked against him.
According to Opta’s Supercomputer, Genk are the favourites this week with a 39.7 percent chance of taking the win at Ibrox. Rangers have been given a 34.4 percent chance of doing something Martin has not yet achieved - securing consecutive wins.
The probability of a draw is 25.8 percent. However, regardless of the result, the pressure will remain heavy on Martin’s shoulders as fans continue to demand his dismissal from the club.
Celtic told to take inspiration from Gianluigi Donnarumma
Celtic have been urged to take inspiration from the iconic Gianluigi Donnarumma when it comes to manging their goalkeeper options.
Brendan Rodgers opted to drop Kasper Schmeichel in favour of Viljami Sinisalo against Partick Thistle and Pat Bonner wants to see more of these decisions made by Brendan Rodgers.
At 38, Schmeichel is now into the final 12 months of his contract at Celtic. Speaking to BBC Sportsround, Bonner has drawn comparison to the stunning career Donnarumma has had already at 26, with more than 400 club appearances under his belt already.
“Schmeichel, listen, he was a wonderful goalkeeper. Fantastic career, and he started his career up here, remember, and went on to do fantastic things. He has got to a stage in his life now where I would probably go with Sinisalo to maybe start games, and he would be the back-up,” Bonner said.
“I think he has done enough last year to justify putting him in and starting him – from a future perspective, I just think Sinisalo fits the profile.”
“When you look at the top goalkeepers, Donnarumma, [Thibaut] Courtois, all the top keepers, even Schmeichel himself. If you look at the list of top, top goalkeepers. They have all played a huge amount of games by the time they were 23 and 24.”
Sinisalo currently has 98 senior appearances to his name but at 23, he is significantly behind the likes of leading names Bonner mentioned.