Turkey vs Kosovo Predictions & Betting Tips, Match Previews

Turkey are not having the best of year’s so far. They disappointed by finishing 3rd in their Euro 2016 qualifying group, but still made it through to the tournament thanks to a late winner against Iceland in the final game.

Their time in France was filled with disappointment though as they lost to Croatia and Spain to send them packing from the tournament despite their win over Czech Republic. The defeats were somewhat expected, but the players’ lack of passion riled up the Turkish fans quite a bit. Their incessant booing over the lack of input from star player Arda Turan resulted in him being exiled from the national team for a while, but he’s been recalled for this one.

Turkey could well need him as well. They have failed to beat Croatia and Ukraine so far in this World Cup qualifying campaign and lost 2-0 to Iceland last time out. This leaves them 4th in the group and already five points adrift of the top two sides.

Kosovo should be a great chance for them to pick up their first win though. The newly approved nation are taking part in their first FIFA tournament at the moment and are a very inexperienced side when it comes to international football.

They managed to get a point in their first ever competitive game against Finland in September, but since then they have been hammered by Croatia and Ukraine to leave them bottom of the group.

This is to be expected from a team who have only played 11 games in their history. One of these was against Turkey as well, with the then-visiting Turkey side thrashing them 6-1.

Kosovo’s defence has proven to be a real problem for this recently, with nine goals conceded in their last two games. Meanwhile, Turkey have won six of their last ten home games and won by at least two goals on three occasions. This includes much tougher matches against Ukraine, Russia, Netherlands, Iceland, and Sweden, so the chances of a convincing Turkish victory seem quite high. I think odds of 1.950 for a Turkey -2.0, -2.5 Asian Handicap Win are good value for money, and I’m backing a 4-0 correct score prediction at 7/1 as well.