Galatasaray and Liverpool meet in Istanbul on Wednesday night in what promises to be one of the most exciting matches of the Champions League group stage, For the Turkish giants, it’s a chance to recover from a nightmare opening night defeat, while Liverpool will be looking to bounce back after a dramatic stoppage time loss to Crystal Palace in the Premier League at the weekend, Softfootball reports.
The Lions have endured a tough start to their European journey, suffering a heavy 5-1 defeat away to Eintracht Frankfurt. That result came as a shock to them given their outstanding domestic dominance, where they’ve been flawless. Yet their struggles in Europe are nothing new Galatasaray have rarely translated their dominance at home into success on the continental stage and have only managed one win from their last 18 matches in this competition.
Liverpool, on the other hand, kicked off their Champions League journey with a thrilling 3-2 victory over Atlético Madrid and will hope to ride on that momemtum further in the league stages. But their confidence took a dent on Saturday, when Palace stunned them with a stoppage-time winner at Selhurst Park.
Arne Slot will expect a response here, and with his side boasting an excellent record in recent group-stage games, Liverpool will feel this is the perfect opportunity to put things right.
Interestingly this isn’t the first time these two sides have crossed paths in Europe. They’ve met four times before, both wining one each and drawing two. Galatasaray will take alot of confidence in their solid record against English sides at home, having lost just once in their last eight matches. Liverpool, however, haven’t always enjoyed trips to Turkey, with four defeats in six.
Team News
All eyes will be on Victor Osimhen, who made his return from injury at the weekend. The Nigerian striker is closing in on history, as one more goal will make him the first from his country to hit double figures in the Champions League stage. Mohamed Salah is also on the verge of a milestone, needing two goals to become the first African player to score 50 goals in Europe’s elite competition.
Galatasary in preparations ahead of the game against Liverpool on tuesday night, post an exclusive footage via its official X handle, of its players training at the Florya Metin Oktay Facilities ahead of the game, watch video below;
Meanwhile for Liverpool, softfootball earlier reported that Liverpool have had to make one change to their Champions League squad, with Federico Chiesa replacing Giovanni Leoni after the youngster picked up a long-term injury.
Possible lineups
Galatasaray XI: Uğurcan Çakır, Wilfried Singo, Davinson Sánchez, Abdülkerim Bardakcı, Roland Sallai, Lucas Torreira, Gabriel Sara, Evren Elmali, Leroy Sané, Mauro Icardi, Baris Yılmaz
Liverpool XI: Alisson Becker, Conor Bradley, Virgil Van Dijk, Ibrahima Konaté, Milos Kerkez, Alexis Mac Allister, Ryan Gravenberch, Mohamed Salah, Dominik Szoboszlai, Florian Wirtz, Alexander Isak
Meanwhile, Liverpool and its supporters will be looking to get over the stoppage time loss to crystal palace, this can be evidently seen as the Reds via its official X handle,posted an update showing the team has switched it focus to the Tuesday night encounter away to Galatasary, see post below;
SoftFootball’s Prediction
With Osimhen back for Galatasaray and Salah chasing records for Liverpool, this game has all the ingredients of a European classic. The atmosphere in Istanbul will be electric, and the hosts will fancy their chances of causing a huge upset. But Liverpool’s experience and quality in the final third should just about see themwin this one.
Prediction: Galatasaray 1-3 Liverpool
