Football Bet of the Day: Rangers to fall victim to Varga

Rangers will be hoping for their fortunes to turn around in the Uefa Europa League when they travel to Hungary to face Ferencvaros on Thursday (17:45 GMT, TNT Sports 4). The Gers are winless after five matches but did pick up their point last time out Braga at Ibrox.

My Football Bet of the Day comes from this contest and it won't be pleasant reading for Rangers fans.

Ferencvaros vs Rangers Odds

Ferencvaros are unbeaten in the league phase so far, with three wins in their last four. They are 4/5 to win on home turf.

The Hungarian outfit have experienced two draws, and Rangers drew with Braga last time out. The stalemate is on offer at 11/4. The Gers are 10/3 to pick up their first three points of the league phase on Thursday.

I think there is certainly value in backing the home team to win this contest given how well they have performed in this competition but the market that really catches my eye is the one for anytime goalscorers.

The person who stands out in this list is the player who is unsurprisingly the favourite to get on the scoresheet is Ferencvaros front man Barnabas Varga. The Hungary international has been a regular source of goals for the Greens in the last two years, scoring 69 goals across all competitions in 110 appearances.

Although his side were unlucky in their Uefa Champions League qualifying campaign in the summer, the 31-year-old still struck six goals in as many games.

In the league phase of the Europa League, Varga has three goals to his name in the first five fixtures, with all three so far coming away from home - against Genk, Red Bull Salzburg and Fenerbahce.

Rangers are a team that are steadily improving in the Scottish Premiership but their issues on the European stage are well documented. They are winless, sit fourth-bottom in the standings (five points adrift of 24th) and they have only conjured up two goals.

One of them came on their travels against Sturm Graz but they still ended up losing that clash. Their other way trip saw them comfortably defeated 3-0 at Brann. Boss Danny Rohl will be hoping for a stronger performance in Budapest but their hosts are flying in this competition and they will eyeing up the Scottish side as a free hit.

Robbie Keane is doing a good job at Ferencvaros and it helps that he has a natural goalscorer to help him in Varga. The attacker will be eager to face a side who are very low on confidence based on their European results, and given how easy other teams have found to break down the Gers' defence, he should be confident in his ability to profit against them on Thursday.

Considering none of his goals in the Europa League this term have come at Ferencvaros Stadion, it feels like he is overdue one here. And given the current circumstances, he won't get a better opportunity than this.

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