Besiktas’ opening game in the Europa League this season was a disaster, so they’ll be looking to turn it around in this game. Facing them, however, is recent Europa League winners Eintracht Frankfurt, who have started the Bundesliga season strongly.
Besiktas and Frankfurt are both in good form in their respective leagues. Between them they have lost just once all season. Besiktas have a game in hand over Fenerbahce and could go above them into second should they avoid defeat in that game.
Both of these teams’ Europa League performances have been less impressive. Frankfurt opened their campaign with an entertaining 3-3 draw against Viktoria Plzen, while Besiktas lost 4-0 to Ajax.
Besiktas Predicted Lineup - Mert Gunok; Emirhan Topcu, Felix Uduokhai, Gabriel Paulista, Milot Rashica; Gedson Fernandes, Cher Ndour; Ernest Muci, Rafa Silva, Joao Mario; Ciro Immobile
Besiktas have a lot of talent in their team, but most of it is ageing. The likes of Joao Mario, Ciro Immoblie and Rafa Silva are all past the age of 30 and have evidently joined Besiktas because they can no longer perform at the levels of Benfica and Lazio.
Immobile has performed well since joining in the summer, scoring twice at the weekend in a 3-0 win, but the Super Lig isn’t exactly a difficult league for the most part. They are defensively weak, so any team with a half decent attack will be able to break them down.
Frankfurt Predicted Lineup - Kaua Santos; Arthur Theate, Robin Koch, Aurele Amenda, Rasmus Kristensen; Hugo Larsson, Tuta; Ansgar Knauff, Omar Marmoush, Fares Chaibi; Igor Metanovic
Frankfurt have a very young and very exciting team. The average age of their squad is 24.4 years old, but it is raised quite a lot by goalkeepers Kevin Trapp (34) and Jens Grahl (36), neither of whom will play this week. Trapp, the captain, is out injured, and boss Dino Toppmoller prefers Kaua Santos to Grahl.
Attacking midfielder Omar Marmoush is the Bundesliga top goalscorer at the moment, having scored six times in five games. He has also managed three assists in that time, meaning he has been involved in over 80% of the team’s goals.
This match is set to be the first time these two sides have met. Despite winning the tournament not too long ago, Frankfurt have only recently become a club that fights for European trophies. In the 1970s and 80s they were more regularly competing among Europe’s elites, but they have never faced Besiktas.
Both teams are in good form, so a draw isn’t completely out of the realms of possibility, but I think that Frankfurt will have just enough talent to beat Besiktas. The backline of the Turkish side is not up for European pursuits, especially with the few absentees that they have, and Frankfurt’s devastating attack will cause problems.
That being said, Frankfurt do have some defensive issues too. Just this weekend, they conceded twice to Bundesliga bottom side Holstein Kiel. Given both sides’ recent results in this competition, I think there will be goals in this game.
With all of this in mind, our team of professional experts have decided that the best tip for this game is for Frankfurt to Win. Odds of 29/20 on CopyBet means that a £10 bet could see a potential return of £24.70.
(odds subject to change)
Besiktas 2-3 Frankfurt
This week is full of European action including Ferencvaros vs Tottenham and Porto vs Manchester United.
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