Glasgow Rangers turn their attention away from the Scottish Premiership on Thursday night as they travel away from Ibrox to take on Benfica in Portugal.

The Light Blues are competing to secure a place in the quarter-finals of the Europa League and will be hoping to take a strong result back to Scotland for the second leg.

Philippe Clement's side, however, come into the match off the back of a disappointing 2-1 defeat to Motherwell last time out, which ended a run of 11 straight wins in all competitions.

The Belgian head coach should now be looking for a strong reaction from his players and could make some alterations to the starting XI that lined up at Ibrox last Saturday.

With this in mind, here is FFC's predicted Rangers lineup to take to the field against the Portuguese giants at the Estádio da Luz on Thursday.

1 Jack Butland

Starting off between the sticks, there should not be any doubt over Jack Butland's place in goal, as he has been in fantastic form for the Gers this season.

The free agent signing from Crystal Palace last summer started all six group stage matches in the Europa League, and saved 77% of the efforts on his goal.

2 James Tavernier

Another player who should, unquestionably, retain his place in the starting XI is Rangers captain James Tavernier, who has racked up 14 goals and eight assists in 29 Premiership matches this season.

The former Newcastle United prospect has the quality to provide a huge attacking threat from right-back, which could make him a difference-maker on the night for the Scottish giants.

3 Connor Goldson

At the heart of the defence, Connor Goldson could start after a dominant display against Motherwell. He won nine of his 12 duels throughout the match and created one 'big chance' for his teammates in the final third.

Leon Balogun was not included in the squad list for the knock-out stages of the Europa League, which means that Clement is limited in his options for the right-sided centre-back position.

4 Ben Davies

The first change to the starting XI from the defeat against Motherwell could come on the left side of the central defensive pairing. Ben Davies could come in for John Souttar, who struggled on Saturday.

Rangers' Scotland international only won one ground duel, out of two contested, completed just 77% of his attempted passes, and missed two 'big chances' in front of goal.

Davies started all six of the club's group stage matches in the Europa League and won 2.5 ground duels per match, with a duel success rate of 68%.

The former Liverpool defender also completed 83% of his attempted passes in those six outings, and Clement could go with the naturally left-footed titan to provide more balance when playing out from the back.

5 Ridvan Yilmaz

Ridvan Yilmaz should keep his place at left-back ahead of Croatia international Borna Barisic for this clash, after an impressive display against Motherwell.

The Turkey international made four key passes, created one 'big chance, and completed two of his three attempted dribbles in 90 minutes on Saturday, which shows that he can provide an attacking threat down the left flank.

6 John Lundstram

In midfield, John Lundstram could be selected as he has been a reliable performer throughout the season. The former Sheffield United star has completed 89% of his passes and won 52% of his duels in the Premiership so far.

7 Mohammed Diomande

Mohammed Diomande started in the number ten role against Motherwell but could drop back into a deep-lying role alongside Lundstram for this clash, to make way for the next player in this XI.

The Ivorian maestro scored two goals in his first two starts as a central midfielder for the Light Blues last month, and could look to make an impact from that position against Benfica.

8 Tom Lawrence

The second change to the starting XI could see Welsh forward Tom Lawrence come in as the attacking midfielder ahead of Diomande and Lundstram.

This alteration could see Nicolas Raskin, who started in central midfield against Motherwell, dropped to the bench after he won just two of his six duels and failed to create a single chance for his teammates on Saturday.

The Belgian maestro looked off the pace as the opposition found it far too easy to get the better of him in physical contests, whilst he failed to make up for his weak play out of possession with quality on the ball.

Lawrence, who has scored one goal and provided one assist in his last three appearances for the club, could come in at the top of the midfield.

9 Dujon Sterling

On the right side of the front three, Clement could keep faith with the versatile Dujon Sterling amid a host of injury issues for the Gers in that position.

Abdallah Sima, Rabbi Matondo, and Todd Cantwell are all out through injury, which could see the former Chelsea prospect retain his position in the side.

10 Cyriel Dessers

In the centre-forward role, Cyriel Dessers will be hoping to improve his form in the Europa League after an unimpressive return during the group stages.

Appearances

Five

Goals

One

Assists

One

Duel success rate

23%

Stats via Sofascore

As you can see in the table above, the Nigerian forward did not offer much in the way of quality in the final third, with one goal in five appearances, and was dominated by the opposition in his physical duels.

Hopefully, the experienced marksman will be at his best to secure a positive result for the Gers in Portugal on Thursday night.