Olympiakos vs Istanbul Basaksehir Predictions

Tuesday night leaves Istanbul Basaksehir with a huge mountain to climb in Europe. They are trailing 1-0 following a loss in the first leg at home, while they take a rotten record in Europe on the road to face an Olympiakos side who are well worn across the Champions League and Europa League. Can the Turkish outfit follow up last season’s Europa League elimination to Burnley by claiming a victory in this away leg?

The hosts are aiming to build on last season’s great Europa League run by pulling off a strong result in this qualifier, as they close in on the group stage of this competition. They have a tough tie ahead even if they get through this one, with either Krasnodar or Porto in prospect if they can hold on to their first-leg lead. The Greek side were able to topple AC Milan in Europe last term and make it through to the last 32 in the Europa League, but landing a spot in the last 32 of the Champions League would be a much bigger financial reward for the hosts.

Istanbul Baskasehir continued their European struggles when these two met last week, as they lost 1-0 at home leaving them with a mountain to climb going into this clash. The Turkish side have had major issues in Europe throughout recent seasons, despite their impressive rise in Turkish football. Domestically they have hauled themselves level with the other Istanbul giants, but in Europe, they just can’t seem to hit their stride.

Recent results for Baskasehir don’t give us much confidence in them going into this second leg. The visitors have won just one of their five Champions League ties, a home meeting with Club Brugge back in 2017. They’ve shipped at least two goals in their last two ties on the road in this competition. They have also struggled in the Europa League, which has seen them win only three times across 19 European ties.

The visitors have failed to score in their last three matches in Europe, while they face an Olympiakos side who have won back to back UCL ties. Basaksehir are coming off a bad summer which saw them fail to win in five straight games, including their home defeat to the Greek side last week. They are unlikely to improve on that against an Olympiakos side who are unbeaten in their last eight at home. We’re backing the visitors’ European woes to hit them again here, so we’re backing an Olympiakos win.