Preview: Besiktas vs. Athletic Bilbao – prediction, team news, lineups

Sporty Bilbao will travel to Istanbul on Wednesday Europa League Clash with the Turkish side Besiktas at Tupras Stadium.

The Basque side remains seated Second place in the league phasewhile the hosts are in 28th place and still have two games to play.

Game preview

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Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is expected to take charge of his first game as Besiktas coach after signing an 18-month contract to return to football management for the first time since being sacked by Manchester United in November 2021.

Solskjaer has taken over a team that sits sixth in the Turkish Super League and is one point away from the Europa League qualifying places after winning two and losing four of their six games in the main round.

Besiktas recorded two consecutive wins against Lyon and Malmö after losing to Eintracht Frankfurt on matchday one, but lost consecutive games against Maccabi Tel Aviv and Bodo/Glimt in the last two European Cup games of 2024.

They will now need to finish strongly in their final two games of the league stage against Athletic and Twente if they are to reach the knockout stages of UEFA competition for the first time since reaching the round of 16 of the 2017/18 Champions League.

Besiktas will be on a five-game unbeaten streak heading into Wednesday’s game (W2 D3), although if there had been a goalless draw in Sunday’s Turkish Süper Lig game against Samsunspor, Besiktas would have been frustrated.

The hosts have previously faced Athletic three times in European competition, losing both games in the 1985 UEFA Cup before winning 3-1 in the UEFA Cup group stage in November 2004.

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In contrast to the hosts, Athletic have already secured a place in the knockout round of the Europa League with five wins and one draw in six games.

After picking up a point against Roma on matchday one, Los Leones won five straight wins against AZ Alkmaar, Slavia Prague, Ludogorets, Elfsborg and Fenerbahce, making them one of three teams yet to lose in the league phase.

Although they are guaranteed a place in the playoff round, they will still be determined to secure a place in the top eight and an immediate place in the round of 16.

Los Leones will travel to Turkey after a successful league game against Celta Vigo and will bounce back from last week’s Copa del Rey exit with a 2-1 win in their trip to Galicia on Sunday Alex Berenguer And Dani Vivian He scored the goal and moved closer to fourth-placed Athletic with 39 points, while Barcelona are in third place.

With the win at the weekend, the Basque team has now suffered nine away defeats in competitive games since the defeat against Girona at the beginning of October.

Athletic have not conceded more than one goal in any of their nine away games and will be hoping for another strong defensive performance, especially as they have the best defensive record in the league with two goals conceded.

Besiktas Europa League form:

Besiktas form (all competitions):

Athletic Bilbao Europa League form:

Athletic Bilbao form (all competitions):

Team news

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The hosts are expected to get by without the services of Gabriel Paulista, Tayyip Talha Sanuc And Necip Uysal.

defender Bakhtiyor Zaynutdinov must be assessed after injury forced him to miss Saturday’s league draw against Samsunspor.

Ciro Real Estate will continue to be Besiktas’ leader and the striker is looking to add to the 14 competitive goals he has scored this season.

As for the guests, they cannot rely on the attacking qualities of Oihan Sancetwho has missed the last four games with an ankle injury.

Ernesto Valverde might be tempted to refresh his own with a number of changes Oscar de Marcos, Aitor Paredes And Yuri Berchiche all in the race for a spot in the backline.

Mikel Jauregizar could get a chance to start in the middle of the park Gorka Guruzeta could come into the team to take the lead in Istanbul.

Besiktas possible starting lineup:
Gunok; Svensson, Topcu, Uduokhai, Masuaku; Al Musrati, Fernandes; Silva, Mario, Rashica; Immobile

Possible Athletic Bilbao starting lineup:
Simon; De Marcos, Vivian, Paredes, Berchiche; Jauregizar, Ruiz de Galarreta; I. Williams, Berenguer, N. Williams; Guruzeta

We say: Besiktas 1:1 Athletic Bilbao

Solskjaer will be hoping to start his reign with a win, especially as Besiktas need a strong finish to the league phase to reach the knockout stages.

However, we expect they will have to settle for a draw when they face an Athletic side who have not suffered a defeat in each of their six games in the league phase.

To data analyze the most likely outcomes, scores and more for this game Please click here.

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