Dynamo Kyiv have made an excellent start to the new season, winning three of their four matches across all competitions, with the one exception being their 1-1 draw with Rangers at a neutral venue in Poland last week. It is worth noting that the Ukrainian side came within seconds of winning that game, conceding in the very last minute of the match.

The visitors executed a crushing 3-0 victory in their previous away game in this competition, knocking out Partizan.  Dynamo look a team well suited to playing counterattacking football, and their forward players will be high in confidence, having already scored 12 goals this season.

Dynamo made an extensive rotation in their squad for their league win over Veres Rivne on Friday, demonstrating how seriously they are taking this match and underlining that their regular players should be full of energy for this game.

Rangers are not helped by this match being displaced to Hampden while Ibrox undergoes structural work. Ibrox is typically atmospheric on European nights and generating that same intimidation factor for the visiting side will be tougher in Glasgow’s southside.

Philippe Clement’s men struggled to a 2-1 win over Motherwell at the weekend, allowing their opponents back into the match after a strong first half. The Gers seem to be lacking in  confidence, having won only one of their three competitive matches so far this season.

Although the first leg of this tie only produced a couple of goals, the second should be higher in excitement, with both teams having a recent history of being involved in high-scoring clashes.

A total of 21 shots were taken in the first leg, with 12 of these finding the target, so it was hardly a game that was defensively minded and points to this encounter being played in a similar manner.

Rangers have struggled defensively in the early stages of the season, extending back into their friendly matches, during which they leaked 10 goals across four games, conceding at least twice on each occasion. Although they have only conceded two goals across their three competitive games, they have continued to appear vulnerable at the back.

The hosts have struggled to keep clean sheets in their recent campaigns in European competitions, only keeping two clean sheets across their 12 games last season. However, Rangers have clearly been able to rely on the quality of their attacking options, having been shut out only twice themselves across these fixtures.

Dynamo have looked very confident going forward this season.  They have scored 12 times across their four competitive matches to date and struck three alone away to Partizan in the last round. The visitors play well in transition, so will likely cause some major difficulties for The Gers’ shaky rearguard here.

Rangers are likely to take the initiative in this game and play in a style that sees them dominate possession. Thus, the hosts, who have won at least five corners in all of their competitive outings this season, are more likely to win more corners than their Ukrainian opponents here.

Even playing in what was technically their away leg last week, Philippe Clement’s side accumulated a greater corner tally than their opponents, edging them on that stat (5-4) in Poland.

Based on the evidence of their opening matches this season, Dynamo are not a side that post a big corner-count. Their high point in these clashes came in their opening fixture of the season when they won six against Partizan. However, the visitors have won no more than four corners across their three subsequent matches.

The Ukrainian side are on a run of three successive games without winning the corner count, while Rangers have done so in each of their last two matches. Thus, we expect the hosts to do so again.

Cyriel Dessers may be much maligned at the forefront of the Rangers attack, but there is no doubt that the Nigerian striker has demonstrated his capability to get the job done in the opening weeks of the season. Dessers has scored in each of his last two matches, netting a dramatic late equaliser in Poland to level this tie, before grabbing the opening goal of the fixture against Motherwell on Saturday.

A striker who is unperturbed by missing chances and gets into good positions on a regular basis, he will be the main benefactor of the arrival of Vaclav Cerny, who delivered an assist for him last week with an excellent cross.

Dessers looked the main threat in the first leg, posing problems to Dynamo’s centre-backs with his clever movement, suggesting that opportunities should come at Hampden.

Rangers are chronically short of match-fit centre-forward options at present. Following a long-term injury, Danilo has barely been used so far, leaving Dessers picking up a high volume of minutes, which is a phenomenon that is likely to continue here.

In the first leg, Rangers were the more aggressive of the two side, which manifested itself with the accumulation of three late bookings for James Tavernier, John Souttar and Dessers. Dynamo did not pick up a single booking in the first leg, despite committing 11 fouls to the 10 made by the Scottish club.

The Gers typically post a high foul-count in European matches. During last season’s Europa League campaign, the hosts committed at least 12 fouls in six of their eight matches, giving them plenty of opportunities to be cautioned.

During Rangers’ last seven European games, they have received more cards than their opponents on four occasions, with two of these matches squared.

Dynamo have received fewer cards than their opponents in all of their four outings so far this season. The visitors have picked up just four bookings across these fixtures, while their opponents have amassed 13, receiving at least two more cards than Dynamo on all four occasions.

In terms of possession, Rangers are likely to dominate this game, which is set to lead to a sizeable corner count for Clement’s side.

This is a well-established pattern of their play this season, with The Gers taking a minimum of five corners in all of their three competitive games, forcing an average of 6.33 corners per match so far.

Rangers’ lowest tally in the corner stakes came in their meeting with Dynamo last week. Nonetheless, they will expect to improve on that figure here, in what is ostensibly a home encounter for them.

Clement’s men were excellent at winning corners at home in Europe last term. They won at least five in all of their four Europa League encounters at Ibrox, including nine against Real Betis and eight against Benfica.

Dynamo have conceded nine corners across their two away matches this season, including four at the weekend against Veres Rivne, a side that were involved in the Ukrainian Premier League’s relegation playoffs last season and are expected to struggle again. Rangers are a significantly stronger outfit than Veres Rivne and we expect the hosts to force at least five corners here.