Free football tips for Tuesday as Rangers begin Champions League journey

Champions League predictions, best bets and analysis for Tuesday's Champions League third qualifying round first legs and the EFL Cup.

Where to watch

Union Saint-Gilloise v Rangers
Premier Sports 1, 7.45pm Tuesday

Best bets

Rangers to beat Union Saint-Gilloise 7.45pm
1pt 8-5 Hills

Both teams to score in Cambridge v Millwall 7.45pm
1pt 4-5 Hills

Tuesday's football betting preview

The third round of Champions League qualifying gets underway on Tuesday and all eyes will be fixed firmly on last season’s Europa League runners-up Rangers, who travel to Belgium hoping to claim a first-leg lead against Union Saint-Gilloise.

After losing on penalties to Eintracht Frankfurt in last season's Europa League final, the Gers have been seeded for the draw and are bidding to make the group stage of the Champions League for the first time since the 2010-11 campaign.

Should Giovanni van Bronckhorst's men come up short in either the third qualifying round or in their playoff, they will embark on a Europa League group-stage campaign for the fifth season in succession.

The Ibrox side fell at this hurdle to Malmo last year but should be confident of avoiding a similar fate against Les Unionistes, whose rapid rise has been helped by having Brighton chairman Tony Bloom as their majority owner.

Rangers are 4-11 to qualify at the expense of the Belgians, who finished second in the Jupiler League behind Club Brugge last season in their first top-flight campaign since 1973.

However, last season’s leading scorer Deniz Undav has returned to parent club Brighton while they have also been weakened by influential midfielder Casper Nielsen's move to Club Brugge.

On the whole, the Belgian outfit have a young squad, which may feature three recognisable starters as they have one-time Portsmouth defender Christian Burgess and former Accrington men Ross Sykes and Marcel Lewis in their ranks.

Rangers made a winning start to their domestic campaign with a 2-1 win at Livingston on Saturday and having knocked out Borussia Dortmund, Braga and Leipzig in last season’s Europa League, look worth backing to put their extra European experience to good use.

Elsewhere, Monaco play host to PSV, Benfica entertain Midtjylland, Sheriff Tiraspol meet Viktoria Plzen while Ludogorets lock horns with Dinamo Zagreb.

There is also one match taking place in the EFL Cup as Cambridge welcome Millwall to the Abbey Stadium, and goals look the way to go in this one.

The Lions were 3-1 winners at home to Cambridge in the second round of this competition last season but Mark Bonner’s side, who impressed in a 1-0 victory at home to MK Dons in Saturday’s League One opener, could be even more competitive on their own patch.

With a trip to Sheffield United to come on Saturday, Millwall manager Gary Rowett may opt to ring the changes and it is worth noting that both teams have scored in eight of their last ten EFL Cup clashes.

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