Istanbul Basaksehir vs Royal Antwerp Match Analysis and Prediction

4 years ago 644

With only two games separating the teams from a spot in the sophomore edition of the Europa Conference League, Istanbul Basaksehir and Royal Antwerp meet in the first leg of their playoff round at the Basaksehir Fatih Terim Stadium.

The hosts saw off the threat of Breidablik in the previous round of the qualifiers, while their visitors eased past the challenge of Lillestrom.

Istanbul Basaksehir were held to a goalless draw with Konyaspor when the sides met at the Yeni Eskisehir Stadyumu on Monday.

Despite having the majority of the ball possession as well as territorial advantage, The Grey Owls failed to find that all-important breakthrough.

As a result, Emre Belozoglu’s side sit fourth in the Super Lig table with four points from their opening two matches, two points adrift of current leaders Adana Demirspor.

Istanbul Basaksehir now set of to take the second last step towards securing European football for the sixth time in the last seven campaigns.

Having won seven and drawn three of their 10 most recent game on home turf, Belozoglu’s side now set out to put another impressive showing in front of the supporters.

Meanwhile, Royal Antwerp made it seven straight wins across all competitions as they defeated Eupen 1-0 at the Kehrwegstadion on Sunday.

The Great Old were in the ascendancy for major spells of the game but it took a Boris Lambert own goal 12 minutes from time to secure all three points.

This came off the back of a 2-0 victory for Antwerp over Norwegian side Lillestorm in the second leg of their Conference League qualifying tie which ended 5-1 on aggregate.

Off the back of six successive victories away from home, including clean sheets in four of the matches, Mark van Bommel’s side will be confident of keeping the juggernaut rolling away from home.

Istanbul Basaksehir vs Royal Antwerp head to head

The two teams have not previously met in any competition and this will be their first meeting in the first leg of their Europa Conference League qualifying playoff-round tie.

Istanbul Basaksehir latest home form

Istanbul Basaksehir have recently been on a good run of form at home, and have been unbeaten in their five most recent matches. They defeated Bredablik 3-0 in their last home game in the Europa Conference League. In their last five matches, they have scored nine goals and conceded just one.

Istanbul Basaksehir 0-0 Antalyaspor 10/07/22

Istanbul Basaksehir 1-0 Konyaspor 15/07/22

Istanbul Basaksehir 1-1 Maccabi Netanya 21/07/22

Istanbul Basaksehir 4-0 Kasimpasa 08/08/22

Istanbul Basaksehir 3-0 Bredablik 11/08/22

Istanbul Basaksehir latest away form

Istanbul Basaksehir have recently been on a good run of form on the road, as they have been unbeaten in their six most recent matches. They drew 0-0 with Konyaspor in their last away game in the league. In their last five matches, they have scored eight goals and conceded four.

Kasimpasa 2-3 Istanbul Basaksehir 30/04/22

Giresunspor 1-1 Istanbul Basaksehir 15/05/22

Maccabi Netanya 0-1 Istanbul Basaksehir 28/07/22

Breidablik 1-3 Istanbul Basaksehir 04/08/22

Konyaspor 0-0 Istanbul Basaksehir 15/08/22

Royal Antwerp latest home form

Royal Antwerp have recently been on a good run of form at home, having been unbeaten in their six most recent matches. They defeated Lillestrom 2-0 in their last home game in the Europa Conference League. In their last five matches, they have scored nine goals and conceded just three.

Antwerp 2-1 Dinamo Kiev 15/07/22

Antwerp 0-0 Drita 21/07/22

Antwerp 1-0 Zulte Waregem 31/07/22

Antwerp 4-2 OH Leuven 07/08/22

Antwerp 2-0 Lillestrom 11/08/22

Royal Antwerp latest away form

Royal Antwerp have recently been on a good run of form on the road, having won each of their six most recent matches. They defeated AS Eupen 1-0 in their last away game in the league. In their last five matches, they have scored 10 goals and conceded just two.

Salzburg 1-2 Antwerp 09/07/22

Mechelen 0-2 Antwerp 24/07/22

Drita 0-2 Antwerp 28/07/22

Lillestrom 1-3 Antwerp 04/08/22

AS Eupen 0-1 Antwerp 14/08/22

Istanbul Basaksehir news

Istanbul Basaksehir forward Stefano Okaka is expected to return to the starting XI after having to make do with a spot on the bench in the game against Konyaspor last time out.

With four goals in his last four appearances for Basaksehir, Danijel Aleksic is definitely one to keep an eye on.

Royal Antwerp news

Jurgen Ekkelenkamp was recently handed his debut for Royal Antwerp over the weekend and he will be pushing for a place in the starting XI for the first leg on Thursday.

Bjorn Engels remains sidelined for the visitors through a knee injury which has seen him miss out since early February.

Prediction and Odds

The two teams boast an abundance of attacking talent on display, so we are expecting goals to come at both sides.

That said, we are also backing Istanbul Basaksehir to come out on top, although with a narrow margin, with the visitors likely to progress come the second leg next week.

Odds: 1 2.20 X 2.05 2 2.24