Real Betis vs Rangers prediction 14.12.2023

• Competition: Europa League
• Date: Thursday, 14th December 2023
• Kickoff: 20:00 UK / 21:00 CET
• Venue: Estadio Benito Villamarín (Sevilla)

On Thursday evening, Real Betis will welcome the Scottish vice-champions, Rangers, at Estadio Benito Villamarín in Sevilla in the deciding match of the Europa League Group phase. 

Real Betis have been Spain's 5th or 6th-best team in the last three seasons, securing Europe every time. This year, even though it is still early, we could easily expect a similar season as they are 7th, just two points away from the 6th placed Bilbao. In the Europa League, Betis are at the top spot with nine points but still haven't secured the next phase, and the popular Los Verdiblancos need only one point to secure it.

Rangers still have the most titles in Scotland, but in recent years, they are mostly the second-best team, behind Celtic. This year, due to a poor start, they are once again second on the league's table with five points behind their arch-rivals, although with one game fewer. Still, since they changed the coach in October, they are playing much better and have reasons to be optimistic. In the Europa League, Rangers are in a tough spot as they are one point above Sparta and one point behind Real Betis, and they are now facing the best team in the group away from home. So, if Sparta Prague wins against the last-placed Aris and Rangers fails to win against Real Betis, the Scottish club will drop to third place, which leads to the Europa Conference League playoffs. 

Real Betis vs Rangers pick: Real Betis to win

Real Betis are in solid form, losing just once in the last 17 games. That loss was against Sparta Prague 1:0 away from home, when Real Betis rotated the squad. At Estadio Benito Villamarín, Los Verdiblancos have been incredible and are undefeated in ten games in all competitions with a 70% win rate. Also, in the Europa League, at home, Real Betis won both games with six scored goals. 

Rangers are in excellent form, currently on a 13-game unbeaten run. Still, objectively, they haven't faced good competition during that period, and we have to take that streak with a pinch of salt. In the Europa League, just like Real Betis, they were much more successful at home. Away from it, the Scottish club only won one point in two games. If we take a closer look, we can see that they were bad in the Qualifiers away from home as well. So, including those Qualifiers, Rangers won only two points in four away games with a 3:7 goal difference. 

In the previous game, at Edinburgh, Rangers won 1:0 in a very close match. Now, with a home advantage, we believe that Real Betis are much closer to winning the upcoming game.