Our prediction for this Nations League match:
Turkey
Match Time & Date:
9 September 2024
19:45
Prediction: 1-1
Iceland
Following a goalless draw with Wales in Cardiff, Turkey will look to record their first win in Group 4 when they face Iceland in Izmir on Monday. The Turks head into the match with a severely-weakened squad as Real Madrid ace Arda Guler limped off with injury in the opener, while forward Baris Alper Yilmaz serves a one-game ban.
The Icelanders, on the other hand, did well to beat Montenegro 2-0 in the opening match of their UEFA Nations League campaign, but they will have a much bigger fish to fry at Gursel Aksel Stadyumu. As Turkey are tough to beat at home, we believe that there is a big value in betting on draw. Lille midfielder Hakon Haraldsson has been ruled out with injury for the visiting team. In their last meeting in a competitive match the two sides played out a goalless draw.
Highlighted Player (Hakan Calhanoglu):
Hakan Calhanoglu is another one in the long line of Turkish footballers who were born in Germany, so it is hardly surprising he came to prominence thanks to his performances in Bundesliga. The attacking midfielder with great vision and very good goalscoring record started his professional career at Karlsruher, scoring impressive 17 goals in 50 league outings to earn a move to Bundesliga side Hamburg.
The spell at Imtech Arena was merely a stepping stone for bigger things as 11 goals in his debut top flight campaign persuaded Bayer Leverkusen to splash nearly €15 million on his services. That proved a very good investment as Calhanoglu continued the rich vein of form, and it is now a matter of time before he joins one of European powerhouses.
The midfield maestro had a bright start to his career in the Turkey national team, scoring 5 goals in first 16 caps, and chances are he will become a leader for Milli Takim in the foreseeable future.
Highlighted Team (Iceland):
Iceland had little to no success during the first 60 years of entering the FIFA competitions, failing to qualify to a single major tournament in that period, but the team then went on to make tremendous progress at the start of the 21st century.
The Nordic side narrowly missed out on a place at the 2014 World Cup, losing in the play-off to Croatia, but they then enjoyed a thoroughly impressive qualifying campaign to reach the Euro 2016, taking 20 points from 10 matches to leave Turkey and Netherlands trailing in their wake.
As a result, the generation featuring players like Gylfi Sigurdsson, Aron Gunnarsson, Kolbeinn Sigthorsson and Emil Hallfredsson will go down as one of the most successful in the national team history and it could be quite some time before another team repeat their success. Even if he was only used as a bit-part player during the Euro 2016 qualifiers, Eidur Gudjohnsen has got to be mentioned as the first Icelandic footballer to have played for top European sides.
Auda
Larne 
Dinamo Minsk
Ludogorets
Linfield
Shelbourne
Aktobe
Legia
Ilves
Shakhtar Donetsk
CFR Cluj
Paks
