Besiktas vs Napoli Predictions & Betting Tips, Match Previews

Besiktas’ unbeaten record since the beginning of the season continued on Friday although,in all honesty, they will have been hoping for more than a 1-1 draw at Genclerbirligi . They remain top of the Turkish Super Lig table at the moment though, and they haven’t been beaten in normal time since a 2-1 loss to Konyaspor at the back end of last season.

So far this term they have won nine and drawn five of their 14 games in all competitions, with the major failure being a penalty loss to Galatasaray in the Turkish Super Cup. In the Champions League they have managed a point against both Benfica and Dynamo Kiev and then got a stunning 3-2 win over Napoli in Italy.

Two of their three goals came courtesy of Vincent Aboubakar, but that’s been far too much of a rarity this season. He only has three goals to his name in all competitions. The likes of Talisca and Cenk Tosun are the more dangerous players Napoli will have to deal with. Both of these have five goals in all competitions, but Talisca is sidelined at the moment to backing Cenk Tosun to score at 11/5 could prove a good move.

Napoli have some genuine threats of their own, even without the injured Arkadiusz Milik. Dries Mertens netted in their previous game against Besiktas and scored again last week, bringing his total to six goals in all competitions. Jose Callejon is the biggest threat though. The Spaniard has scored seven times this season and in two of his last three outings. He also comes in at 11/5 to score anytime.

The Naples side are coming into this game on the back of a tough contest with Juventus on Saturday night though. They lost the game 2-1 thanks to a 70th minute goal from their disgraced ex-striker Gonzalo Higuain, with that defeat making it four losses and two wins in their last six outings in all competitions.

They remain top of their Champions League group thanks to wins over Dynamo Kiev and Benfica, but they have had a day less rest than their in form Turkish counterparts and lost to them last month as well.

Considering this, and the fact that Besiktas haven’t lost this season and have won four of their six home games, it seems strange that the out of form Napoli are such a short price. Backing a Besiktas Win or Draw Double Chance at 4/5 looks an excellent choice here, so I’m going for that along with a 2-1 win for the hosts at 11/1.