Akhisar Belediye vs FK Krasnodar Predictions

Akhisarspor have been one of the anonymous mid-table sides in the Turkish Super Lig for a good few years now, and their 11th place finish last season was nothing out of the ordinary for them. What was out of the ordinary was their excellent run in the Turkish Sup, with the outsiders shocking Fenerbahce in the final after knocking out Galatasaray in the semi-finals.

The reward for this achievement is a debut campaign in the Europa League, and after pulling off a few relative giant killings domestically they will feel like they have a shot of making a success of this.

Akhisarspor began the new season with another triumph over Galatsaray, this time on penalties in the Turkish Super Cup. However, since then things have gone disappointingly downhill. They haven’t won any of their opening five Super Lig games, losing to Besiktas, Istanbul Basaksehir, and Ankaragucu along with draws at home to Rizespor and Sivasspor.

This sort of form doesn’t lend itself well to the rigours of a continental campaign, and their squad doesn’t fare much better in these comparisons. The hosts lack any sort of widely recognised talent amid their ranks, with perhaps their most influential player being 28-year-old Josue in the number ten role.

Krasnodar might not be powerhouses of European football, but they can boast a much stronger looking squad than their opponents. This is especially true in midfield, where they can call upon the services of Wanderson, Viktor Claesson, Pavel Mamaev, Charles Kabore, and Yuri Gazinskiy.

To add to that advantage, the Russian visitors are in much better form than their Turkish counterparts as well. They have won four of their last six games in the Russian Premier League, and have a growing reputation for being regulars in continental competition.

Krasnodar first qualified for the Europa League back in the 2014/15 campaign, and since that debut season they haven’t failed to qualify once. In fact, they have only failed to reach the group stages in one of these five campaigns, and have actually made it to the knockout rounds in two of them.

The visitors are by no means heavyweights of Europe, but compared to their debutant hosts they certainly look the better outfit. They have won three of their last four Europa League matches, and the last time they faced Turkish opposition saw them take a 2-1 aggregate victory against Fenerbahce in the 2016/17 knockout stages. We think backing a Krasnodar win here looks the best option, so we’re going for that along with a 2-1 correct score predictions.