Besiktas vs B36 Torshavn Predictions, Betting Tips and Match Previews

Beşiktaş and Tórshavn meet on Thursday for their second leg of the Europa League 2nd Qualifying Round. The Turks won the first match 2-0 in the Faroe Islands and are the heavy favourites for the return fixture in Istanbul. The winner of this tie will likely play LASK from Austria as they have a 4-0 advantage going into their match with Lillestrom. Beşiktaş will fancy their chances against either of these teams with minor European pedigree but they still have to overcome the 11-times Faroese Champions to get there.

Two away goals for the Eagles will make it a steep hill for B36 to climb if they want to get past the second qualifying round for the first time in their history. Gökhan Gönül and Sunderland flop Jeremain Lens got the vital strikes in Tórshavn but this tie isn’t over yet as the Turkish League hasn’t kicked off yet, whereas Tórshavn are 16 games into the Betri-deildin so fitness could play a key factor here.

Despite winning the Faroe Islands Premier League 11 times Tórshavn haven’t managed to match that feat since 2015. A disappointing 3rd place finish last season following on from an even worse 4th place the year before spells a bit of a dry patch for B36. Back to back league wins in 2014 and 2015 couldn’t kickstart a consistent run of domestic success and judging from this season’s form, it doesn’t look like it’s going to change.

Currently sitting 5th with five losses from the opening 15 games and a tough run of tight Europa League fixtures means that the White Tigers can pretty much kiss this season goodbye, as HB and KÍ look to be the leaders in a two horse race. This means that good Europa League progression is their main goal this season as the title is now out of reach. B36 once looked favourites to finish top with a fantastic run of seven straight wins but after a 85th minute winner from NSÍ Runavík’s Árni Frederiksberg caused them to have their first loss in almost two months, B36 haven’t been able to garner together a consistent run of performances. Their form to get them to the second qualifying round hasn’t been too impressive either, needing a penalty shoot-out to get past St. Joseph’s and a tight 2-1 win in Montenegro to beat OFK Titograd. So it isn’t looking too bright for B36 ahead of this second fixture, especially when their opponent’s squad market value is nearly 175x more expensive than their own.

Beşiktaş are also just off the back of a disappointing domestic campaign finishing fourth, losing two of their best players, Marcelo and Cenk Tosun in the process. The Eagles have continued to lose players this season with the likes of Ricardo Quaresma, Matej Mitrovic and Fabri already gone with little to no replacement, so this season is looking to be another poor one by their standards unless they invest in the squad.

Despite this plus a pretty mixed pre-season, we’re backing Beşiktaş to win this second leg and breeze past their semi-professional opposition due to the quality of player they still have, compared to Tórshavn and the amount of European pedigree the Eagles possess. With a home advantage behind them Beşiktaş should win this pretty easily, with the experienced Gökhan Gönül and Caner Erkin in their defence plus ex-Inter Milan and Sevilla midfielder Gary Medel screening the back four.