Besiktas Istanbul vs Sarpsborg 08 Prediction & Betting Tips - Europa League

Prediction published on 17/09/2018, 06:39  by Steve Ashfield | Modified on 17/09/2018 at 07:39 in Europa League Predictions

Besiktas had a good European campaign last year reaching the last sixteen of the Champions League before being soundly beaten by Bayern Munich. This season they find themselves in the Europa League having been able to finish only fourth in the Turkish Super Liga. They had to qualify and so nearly got knocked out in the third qualifying round. It needed a 90th minute goal to get them past LASK on away goals. It was easier in the play-off round though with a 4-1 aggregate win over Partizan. They are currently fourth in the Turkish Super Liga two points off the top of the table. Home form is extremely powerful for Besiktas with only two defeats in the last 31 games and one of those was by Bayern Munich.

Sarpsborg are seventh in the Norwegian league after 22 games of their season and are six points adrift of the Europa League places. They finished third in the league last season getting them into the qualifying rounds of the Europa League. It's not been an easy route to the group stages for them with an away goals win over St Gallen and needing an 81st minute penalty at Maccabi Tel Aviv to get a 4-3 win in the play-off round. This is their first ever European campaign so have little experience compared to their opponents. Away form in the Europa League has seen them win two and lose two and in the Norwegian League have only won three out of ten away fixtures. This looks booked for a home win with Besiktas ahead at both half and full time.