Istanbul Basaksehir vs Olympiakos Predictions

While Istanbul Basaksehir have managed to climb up the ranks in Turkey, they haven’t achieved the same level of European success as their city rivals. With the likes of Galatasaray and Fenerbahce now old hands in Europe, Basaksehir have a lot to live up to as Turkey’s second side in the Champions League this term. They have consistently struggled in European football in recent seasons, but will they be able to change that against Olympiakos as they chase a huge windfall by reaching the group stage?

Baskasehir are aiming to turn around some mixed Champions League form, with their one and only campaign in this competition lasting just four matches back in 2017. They were able to edge out Club Brugge 5-3 on aggregate before their 4-3 exit at the hands of Sevilla. The club failed to make the grade to return to the competition last summer, but they are back in 2019 with renewed hope of secure a berth in the last 32 this autumn.

Olympiakos also missed out of the Champions League in 2018/19, but unlike Basaksehir the Greek side were able to continue their European campaign into winter. The visitors were able to defeat Burnley in the Europa League playoff – which came a round after the Clarets knocked out Basaksehir. Olympiakos were able to impress in the group stage, as they pipped AC Milan to second place. That set up a last 32 meeting with Dynamo Kyiv which they lost 3-2 on aggregate.

The Greek side pulled off a solid season in Europe, while they secured second in the Super League to return to this competition. Given that seven of their last eight campaigns have seen them make the knockout round of either the Champions League or Europa League, the visitors should be confident about their chances of going all the way. However, their recent experiences in Europe suggest they will need to do most of the heavy lifting at home if they are to go on another European run.

Olympiakos won only once on the road in the Europa League group stage last term – a victory over Luxembourg outfit and group minnows Dudelange. They aren’t hugely effective on the road, failing to win any of their last four Champions League trips. In the last round they picked up a 0-0 draw with Plzen before winning the home meeting 4-0. We expect them to adopt a similar approach, especially with the benefit of playing at home in the second leg. Basaksehir have won only three of their 18 European ties, drawing the last three at home. We expect them to share another draw, which would be their eighth in 19 European ties and their third in just five Champions League outings.