Simon Dalton presents his prediction for the Turkish Super Lig match.
As ever, one of the defining fixtures in the second half of the Turkish season is the fierce Istanbul derby. Beşiktaş come into it off the back of two straight defeats and don’t look equipped to seriously trouble a Galatasaray side charging toward another league title.
Beşiktaş
Following a managerial change, Beşiktaş managed to stabilise and stay in the top four, but back-to-back defeats to Konyaspor (0:1) and Gaziantep (1:2) exposed ongoing defensive issues. Before the international break, they played with a man advantage from the 25th minute and generated 2.63 xG from 26 shots — yet still failed to score. At home this season, Beşiktaş have found the net just 22 times in 13 matches — among the current top nine, only Gaziantep have a less effective attack.
Galatasaray
Heading into the March break, Galatasaray had already secured a Champions League qualification spot, opening up a 20-point gap over third place. After Fenerbahçe slipped up against Samsunspor (0:0), they also hold a nine-point advantage over their closest rivals — who still have a game in hand. Victor Osimhen has hit a rich vein of form at the right time: the Nigerian scored a hat-trick against Antalyaspor (4:0) and has now scored 12 goals in his last nine appearances for club and country.
Beşiktaş vs Galatasaray Prediction
In the reverse fixture, Beşiktaş failed to truly test Galatasaray (1:2), with star man Mohamed Sarr providing two assists in that win. The league leaders should once again prove more incisive in attack.
