Preview: Rangers vs Jagiellonia Bialystok - prediction, team news, lineups

Rangers will welcome Jagiellonia Bialystok to Ibrox Stadium on Thursday evening for the second leg of their Europa League third qualifying round contest.

The hosts will have to overturn a one-goal deficit if they are to keep their Europa League campaign alive, having lost 2-1 in the reverse fixture last week.

Match preview

Rangers, after losing Danny Rohl at the end of last season, headed into the 2026-27 season with high hopes under newly appointed Derek McInnes, who finished second with Hearts last term after devastatingly losing the Scottish Premiership title on the final day.

Alongside the addition of several signings, including Lawrence Shankland and Cameron Devlin, Rangers would have been eyeing a significantly improved campaign compared to their third-placed finish last term.

However, despite a promising pre-season, with one win and one draw, the Gers have endured a lacklustre start to the term, drawing one and losing two of their opening three competitive fixtures.

Rangers have drawn 1-1 with Dundee United and lost 2-1 to Hibernian in their first two league games, as well as suffering a shock 2-1 defeat to Jagiellonia Bialystok in the first leg of their Europa League third qualifying round tie, leaving their hopes of reaching the league phase on the line going into this second leg.

The Gers will, therefore, have to overturn the one-goal deficit if they are to progress into the playoff round, and they will be confident as they return to Ibrox, although they have lost three of their last five home matches in European competition.

Meanwhile, Jagiellonia Bialystok are looking to qualify for the Europa League for the first time in their history, having only previously managed to reach the league phase of the Conference League - in each of the last two seasons.

Jagiellonia have demonstrated their pedigree during those European campaigns, including beating Fiorentina 4-2 in the second leg of their knockout playoff round clash last term - albeit they were eliminated 5-4 on aggregate after a 4-0 first-leg loss.

Jaga are now looking to progress one step closer to securing their first-ever Europa League qualification, and the visitors hold the advantage after a narrow 2-1 win last week.

After falling behind early on to a Guilherme Montoia own-goal, a quickfire double from Kajetan Szmyt helped secure a 2-1 victory for Jagiellonia.

However, Adrian Siemieniec's side do head into Thursday's meeting off the back of their first loss of the new campaign, losing 2-0 to Widzew Lodz in the Ekstraklasa.

Rangers Europa League form:

Rangers form (all competitions):

Jagiellonia Bialystok Europa League form:

Jagiellonia Bialystok form (all competitions):

Team News

Rangers will be without Youssef Chermiti, Connor Barron, Ben Godfrey and Jose Cifuentes due to ongoing injury issues.

Ryan Don Naderi could replace Chermiti alongside Shankland in attack, while the likes of Mohammed Diomande, Thelo Aasgaard and Djeidi Gassama could also earn starting places with McInnes expected to make changes following the weekend's loss to Hibernian.

As for Jagiellonia Bialystok, Mario Garcia and Przemyslaw Wisniewski may be doubts after coming off in the defeat to Widzew Lodz with injury worries.

Szmyt, who scored a brace in the first-leg, should keep his place in attack, with Youssuf Sylla and Nik Prelec likely to feature in the front three.

Rangers possible starting lineup:

Pandur; Sterling, Makhanya, Fernandez, Rommens; Aasgaard, Diomande, Devlin, Gassama; Shankland, Naderi

Jagiellonia Bialystok possible starting lineup:

Abramowicz; Wojtuszek, Konstantopoulos, Kobayashi, Montoia; Conceicao, Romanczuk, Lozano; Szmyt, Sylla, Prelec

We say: Rangers 3-1 Jagiellonia Bialystok

Although Jagiellonia have demonstrated their European pedigree in recent seasons, including in the first leg, Rangers will be expected to dominate the second leg as they return to their home ground, and the Gers should ultimately win this one.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.