Manchester United are prime contenders to win this season’s Europa League, while every Premier League team will want to get Rangers in the round-of-16.
That’s according to talkSPORT’s Jamie O’Hara, who says Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men are the stand-out candidates to win this season’s competition.
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“If you’re looking at form, and in terms of the players they have, you have to say Manchester United are in the best position,” O’Hara said.
“They’re playing really well and they’ve got the squad of players to go and win it. You look at the teams – you’ve got AC Milan, Roma, Napoli, Ajax – there’s still some really good sides in there.”
Steven Gerrard’s Rangers are runaway leaders in the Scottish Premiership, and they have also impressed in Europe this season – but not enough for O’Hara to consider them genuine competition.
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“I think every Premier League team would want to get Rangers in the next round,” he added. “Come on… you’re talking about teams like Milan, Napoli and Ajax.
“You’re going to prefer to play Rangers. Let’s be realistic… I’m not saying it’s going to be an easy game but come on.”
talkSPORT Sports Bar co-host Jason Cundy recently admitted he’d love to see Rangers play one of the English teams in the latter stages of the competition.
“Their performances, not just in Scotland, but their performances in Europe have been truly astonishing,” Cundy said.
“They conceded a penalty just on half-time, it’s one of the weakest penalties you will see, but in the modern game now any contact on the ankle they’ll go down and get the penalty.
“It’s another brilliant result. English clubs will be looking at them and be thinking ‘I’d rather avoid them right now’.
“I’d love to see Rangers up against a Premier League side and knock them out.”
And what about O’Hara’s former team Spurs? Jose Mourinho’s men have fallen away spectacularly in the Premier League, but still have a chance of silverware in the Carabao Cup and Europa League.
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Quizzed by Ally McCoist on whether Spurs should go all out in the competition, O’Hara responded: “I agree… we’ve got nothing else to play for really and truthfully.
“The league’s gone in terms of trying to get into the Champions League. We’ve got the Carabao Cup final [vs Man City] which is obviously a one-off game, but apart from that we are relying on the Europa League to make things happen.
“I really feel like we have to go all out to win this competition, and if they get it right – you see the way Atletico [Madrid] play with this low block – it’s similar to how Spurs like to do things.
“In Europe it might be the right way to get results in the latter stages of the competition.”
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