Liverpool will see a familiar face in the Fenerbahçe dugout when the Reds travel to Istanbul looking to maintain their perfect start to this season’s UEFA Champions League (UCL) league phase.
Match News and Current Form
Tough times have fallen on Fenerbahçe, who’ve suffered back-to-back 2-1 defeats recently against bitter rivals Galatasaray and Göztepe, with the former result seeing manager İsmail Kartal resign. Liverpool legend Dirk Kuyt was announced as interim manager, and will need to put losing his first game in charge at the weekend behind him as the Yellow Canaries are currently on their longest-ever winless run in the UCL (D4, L6), after failing to win any of their three league phase matches this term (D2, L1). Scoring first may hold the key to ending that rotten run, since they’ve never lost a UCL home match in which they scored first (W7, D2).
Liverpool lost just their second game all season when going down 1-0 to Arsenal at the weekend, but winning their five matches prior hints they could bounce back immediately. Their league phase form will certainly fuel belief of an instant response as they’re one of five clubs with a 100% record after three rounds, while their 12 goals are the most they’ve netted after three games of a European Cup/UCL campaign since 1980/81, a season in which they went on to lift the trophy. Andoni Iraola won’t be getting drawn into UCL title talk just yet, but stretching their winning run in UCL league phase games to seven matches seems a realistic goal for a side who’ve won four successive competitive away games.
Head-to-Head History
This is the first meeting between these sides, with Fenerbahçe winning just one of their last five games against English teams (D1, L3) and Liverpool never winning away to a Turkish club in the European Cup/UCL (D1, L5).
Hot Stats and Streaks
Just two of Fenerbahçe’s last ten European matches were decided by a 2+ goal margin.
Six of Fenerbahçe’s last seven home games featured over 2.5 goals.
Liverpool have scored 3+ goals in four of their last five league phase fixtures.
None of Liverpool's last 65 UCL away games ended goalless.
Key Players to Watch and Missing Players
Former Evertonian Romelu Lukaku has scored five goals against Liverpool, and he’ll be out to punish the Reds again with seven of his last eight club goals coming at home. Fellow #9 Alexander Isak might be the one with the final say though, with the Swede scoring the game’s last goal in his last four goalscoring outings for Liverpool.
Marco Asensio and Nathan Aké are big names missing for Fenerbahçe, while Liverpool don’t seem to have any new injury concerns.
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Betting Analysis
Fenerbahçe should make a game of this but the Reds arrive in better shape, making Liverpool to win and both teams to score seem a smart choice.
Author: Peter Stavrinou