Leipzig vs Istanbul Basaksehir Prediction & Betting Tips - Champions League

Prediction published on 18/10/2020, 02:44  by Daniel Ngulu | Modified on 18/10/2020 at 02:53 in Champions League Predictions

Istanbul Basaksehir are set to brush shoulders with the elite in European football after being drawn in Group H following their league triumph in Turkey last season. Their first assignment is an away game against German side RB Leipzig, who have started the season in fine fashion. Leipzig beat Augsburg 2-0 on Saturday to stay top of Bundesliga with 10 points and as they switch to the Champions League, a key target will be to get to the second round once again. This is just their third season in the Champions League and Leipzig have registered good improvement in the earlier two. After failing to get off their group in their debut season, they went all the way to the semis last season, only to lose to PSG. Leipzig are unbeaten in the five matches that have come after the defeat by PSG and have scored two goals or more in four of the five matches while keeping three clean sheets. Yussuf Poulsen, Jose Angelino and Emil Forsberg have been key for Leipzig. They have scored a combined seven goals in the last five matches and will still be crucial in this game. Daniel Olmo has also established himself well in the team and has had three assists in the last four matches and will be key here. In the Champions League, Leipzig have lost just once in the last eight matches, winning five. They have scored two or more goals in six of the eight and six have ended in over 2.5 goals.

On the other hand, Basaksehir are getting their bow in the Champions League group stage after winning the Turkish league last season. They managed to squeeze through to the knockout stages of the Europa League last season but here the standards are much higher and opposition tougher. It hasn’t been a very good start to the season for them; they lost three straight opening games only to recover ahead of this game with a 0-0 draw with Goztepe and a 2-0 win over Trabzonspor. That win was the first time this season that they have managed to score and it also marked their second straight clean sheet. Playing away from home has also not offered the best experience for Basaksehir; in their last six, they have lost five. Their previous experience in the Champions League came in the qualifying rounds, playing five matches and winning just one. They actually have no win in the last four, losing three and drawing one, while failing to score in the last two.