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Glasgow Live
Glasgow Live
Sport
Mark McDougall

Brian Laudrup urges Rangers to target Jason Denayer as he names ex-Celtic star as Lyon weak link

Brian Laudrup has told Rangers they should target Jason Denayer when they face off against Lyon on Thursday night.

The Ibrox side host the French giants in their first Europa League group game of the season and former Celtic pair Denayer and Moussa Dembele will both be involved.

And while Dembele is a huge threat in attack, Laudrup feels Denayer is one they can get the better of and believes he is guilty of 'ball-watching' a lot of the time.

The Dane expects Peter Bosz to continue playing the attractive attacking football that he has been known for since his Ajax days, but he reckons that's good for Rangers.

Steven Gerrard's men have been impressive on the counter in European competition during his time in charge and that could give them a chance to attack Lyon in this game.

In his Daily Mail column, Laudrup said: "Lyon have scored eight goals in their first five games in Ligue 1 but the flip side is that they have conceded the same number.

"And I know the way the coach, Peter Bosz, wants his teams to play.

"If you go back to his time at Ajax, briefly at Dortmund where he got the sack then at Bayer Leverkusen, every Bosz side has played attractive football.

"They have all been very good going forward, but the critics would say he hasn't really won anything so far in his career and that his teams can be vulnerable to counter-attacking.

"Jason Denayer, another former Celtic, is a big part of their defence and also scored at the weekend.

"He is a very good player, don't get me wrong here, but I do think there are occasions when he gets drawn out of position and can be guilty of a little bit of ball-watching. If Rangers can get their movement right they will cause Lyon problems for sure.

"Obviously, though, Gerrard's side will have to dig extremely deep at the opposite end.

"It will be a difficult night for sure. All the players need to be together. They have to stick their chests out and say: 'We are Rangers. We've played some top teams in recent seasons and achieved some great results'.

"There is a respect attached to the club's name in Europe again due to how well they have done under Gerrard's management. Hopefully, that belief could add another few percentage points to their performance level on Thursday."

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