RANGERS face Royal Antwerp in the last 32 of the Europa League on Thursday evening, with the first leg taking place in Belgium before the reverse fixture at Ibrox a week later.

Supporters of the Premiership's league leaders will be feeling quietly confident of watching Steven Gerrard's side qualify for the last 16 for the second year running after the two wins over Antwerp's fellow Jupiler League outfit Standard Liege in the group stage.

And fans are right to be feeling positive about their team's chances of making it through the first knockout round - according to a supercomputer.

Glasgow Times:

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The number crunchers at American website FiveThirtyEight have developed a sophisticated algorithm that they say gives an accurate reading of each team's chances in the Europa League this term.

And the boffins reckon that Gerrard's side have a 77 percent chance of seeing off Antwerp over two legs.

But any fans dreaming of this team emulating the feats of the class of 2008 under legendary manager Walter Smith, when Rangers reached the final of the UEFA Cup before losing out to Zenit St Petersburg, have been dealt a reality check.

FiveThirtyEight have calculated that the Glaswegians have only a TWO percent chance of lifting the trophy in May.

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According to the supercomputer's calculations, Gerrard's side have a 29 percent chance of going one better than last year and reaching the final eight, while there's an 11 percent likelihood that they'll make it to the semis.

The chance of Rangers reaching the final, meanwhile, sits at just four percent.

That leaves the men from Ibrox as the joint-19th favourites to win the competition this term, with Manchester United the out-and-out favourites at 11 percent.