Our prediction for this Europa Conference League match:
Basaksehir
Match Time & Date:
21 August 2025
18:45
Prediction: 2-1
Universitatea Craiova
Basaksehir play host to Universitatea Craiova to their Basaksehir Fatih Terim Stadium in the Conference League playoffs, first leg. Cagdas Atan’s troops are seen as hot favourites to win Thursday’s clash, but they will have to prove their worth on the field. Goalkeeper Muhammed Sengezer is one yellow card away from suspension, while forward Yusuf Sari has overcome his minor injury. A man to watch in the home team will be summer signing Davie Selke, who is likely to prove a handful for the opposition back-line.
The Romanians, on the other hand, set up a meeting with Basaksehir by eliminating Trnava in round 3 after extra-time. The visitors, though, will have a much bigger fish to fry in Thursday’s game as Cagdas Atan’s men have turned their stadium into a real fortress. Universitatea boss Mirel Radoi is going to field the best possible side this time out after resting several first-team regulars in a 2-1 win over Csikszereda M. Ciuc at the weekend.
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.
Maccabi Tel Aviv
Dynamo Kyiv 
Zrinjski 
Utrecht 
Lausanne 
Besiktas 
Lech Poznan 
Genk 
Aberdeen 
FCSB 
Rijeka 
PAOK
