Besiktas hosts Rio Ave in the Europa League qualification semifinals. The match will be played on Thursday, September 24th at Vodafone Park (Istanbul)
Besiktas has a very experienced squad, but it is very slow, so the Black Eagles lost their chances for a champion’s title in the last season. The team was not ready to play in a frantic schedule after a pandemic pause and recovered very poorly. The new season in Turkey has just started, and the Black and Whites have not managed to gain shape yet, so I would not consider Besiktas a moderate favorite, especially since the visitors will counterattack very sharply. Beyond that, the hosts have a bunch of injured players - Ozyakup, Douglas, Nkoudou, Celebi and Izima-Miren will not be able to play for the hosts. The bronze medalists started the new Super League with a win and a draw, but the team's potential could be higher if not for injuries. Ljajic and Lens are dangerous in the attack, but defense is the team's weak point.
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The Portuguese are much weaker in terms of stars in the squad, but they play football that is very inconvenient for Besiktas. It is fast and tempo-based, with lots of passes. Senior players of the hosts will not always keep up with their opponents. Rio Ave will give them the ball, and the team can always respond with a smashing counterattack. The Portuguese successfully put the squeeze on Bosnian Borac in the last stage (2-0), scoring two goals in added time. In the championship, Rio Ave had a full territorial advantage but tied with Tondela on the road (1:1). Nevertheless, Silva's men like to keep a lower profile. Only Junio will not play for the visitors.
The teams have never met on the football field. There are several important factors in favor of non-defeat of the visitors – a non-optimal squad of the hosts, their slow defense, which is not always reliable, and Rio Ave’s ability to counterattack very effectively. Given these factors, the visitors are quite capable of giving battle to the Turkish grandee.
Prediction for the match: Rio Ave to win with +0.5 handicap
