Team News
Fatih Terim is set to field a 4-4-2. Semih Kaya and Dani are set to start in central defence. Emmanuel Eboue and Albert Riera are set to parade the wings in defence. Galatasaray signed Cris this season to cover for the loss of Tomas Ujfalusi to injury.
Ayut Kocaman will be fielding his Fenerbahce side in a 4-3-3, the formation he has used since the unceremonious departure of Alex De Souza. Yobo and Bekir Irtigun are likely to start in central defence. Cristian Baroni, Mehmet Topal and Raul Meireles are likely to start in midfield to protect the back-line.
Analysis
Fenerbahce might be caught out at the back as Gokhan Gonul and Hasan Al Kaldirim, the two wing-backs, love to come forward. Hence, Topal could be used as a destroyer. Meireles will join the attack to the defence. He will be important in the transition of play. Topal will have to stay back to ensure that Baroni’s forward runs don’t result in successful counter-attacks. Caner Erkin is likely to start up front instead of Miroslav Stoch to help the Turks defensively.
Galatasaray’s left-flank can be exploited. Riera has been playing at left-back, a position which he doesn’t belong to. Nordin Amrabat is not one to track back and help out defensively, leaving his flank exposed. On the opposite win, due to the presence of former Bayern Munich man Hamit Altintop, oppositions cannot exploit the unpredictable Emmanuel Eboue easily. Burak Yilmaz will be their main weapon up front.
Previous Matches
Galatasaray 1-2 Trabzon
Sivasspor 1-3 Galatasaray
Braga 1-2 Galatasaray
Galatasaray 1-1 Gaziantepspor
Galatasaray 4-1 Balikesirspor
Fenerbahce 4-0 Goztepe
Fenerbahce 2-1 Istanbul Buyuksehir
Fenerbahce 0-3 Borussia Monchengladbache
Kayserispor 1-1 Fenerbahce
Fenerbahce 1-0 Pendikspor
Previous Meetings
Galatasaray 3-2 Fenerbahce
Fenerbahce 0-0 Galatasaray
Galatasaray 1-2 Fenerbahce
Fenerbahce 2-2 Galatasaray
Galatasaray 3-1 Fenerbahce
Prediction
Galatasaray 2-0 Fenerbahce
