Besiktas – Athletic Bilbao

Istanbul fans will see at least three goals scored on Wednesday

Three Istanbul clubs have to play their matches at home in the upcoming Europa League round. In order not to overload the city's infrastructure, UEFA have decided to "stretch" the calendar of these matches over three days - from Tuesday to Thursday. Besiktas, currently the city's weakest team, will play on Wednesday. Lately, the team has been struggling to compete with Gatalatsaray and Fenerbahce for the top positions in the Turkish Super League. In the Europa League, Besiktas occupies the current 28th place. Out of six opponents, the Black and Whites managed to beat Lyon and Malmo, but lost to everyone else. Theoretically, the Istanbul club have a chance to qualify for the knockout rounds, but for that they need wins in the remaining two rounds of the general stage. Athletic Bilbao are one of the most likely contenders for the trophy in the Europa League. The Basques have lost points in only one of their six matches in the tournament, drawing with Roma on its pitch. No-one has better results in the second continental competition, but Lazio have picked up a similar number of points with a better goal difference. Bookmakers have identified the visitors as favourites for the upcoming meeting, offering odds of 1.82 on their victory. Besiktas after the first round of the Turkish championship is in fifth place, behind the leading Galatasaray on twenty points. At the same level "black and white" performed last season, but managed to win the Turkish Cup. In the last official meeting, Besiktas failed to beat Samsunspor in their arena. Moreover, from the middle of the second half the club played in the majority. The Black and Whites also demonstrate a mediocre level of play in the European arena. In the general stage of the Europa League, the team beat only Malmo at home, losing to Eintracht and Maccabi Tel Aviv with the same score 1:3. Athletic spent the first half of January in cup battles. The Basques failed to succeed in either the Spanish Super Cup or the King's Cup. However, it is unlikely that the fans of the club from Bilbao strongly criticise their favourites. In the Primera, Athletic is "tightly" located in the Champions League zone, performing quite convincingly. We bet that there will be open football in Istanbul, which will lead to at least three goals.