Our prediction for this Europa Conference League match:
Istanbul Basaksehir will be aiming to record their first win in the Europa League this season when they face rock-bottom Petrocub at their Basaksehir Fatih Terim Stadium. The Turks will not have a better chance than this to return to winning ways, but the Moldovans should not be underestimated just yet. Even though there are no fresh injury worries in the home team, Brazil forward Joao Figueiredo is widely expected to return to the starting XI.
Petrocub, on the other hand, do not seem to be competitive at this level, with the team losing each of their three games of the process. As Andrei Martin’s troops struggle at the back, we do not believe that they are capable of spoiling Basaksehir’s party in Istanbul. It has to be noted that the two clubs meet for the first time in European competitions.
Highlighted Team (Basaksehir):
Istanbul Basaksehir are one of the youngest clubs in Turkey. Founded in 1990, Istanbul Basaksehir play their home games at Fatih Terim Stadium, the venue that was opened in 2014. The Turkish club club have yet to win the national championship, but they did well to finish the 2016/2017 Super Lig campaign in second place in the standings.
As a result, Istanbul Basaksehir booked their place in the Champions League qualifiers and thanks to a win over Club Brugge in the two-legged tie the capital club set up a meeting with La Liga side Sevilla in the play-offs. Despite producing fine performances in the double-header against the star-studded Spanish side Istanbul Basaksehir eventually failed to make it to the Champions League group stages.
Nonetheless, the club will represent Turkey in the group stages of the Europa League in the 2017/2018 season. It has to be noted that the likes of Emmanuel Adebayor, Eljero Elia, Emre Belozoglu and Gael Clichy played for Istanbul Basaksehir in the 2017/2018 Champions League qualifiers.