WOLVES continue their Europa League journey in Turkey on Thursday night with a trip to face Besiktas. Anthony Olsson (@Ant_olsson93) analyses the encounter.
Besiktas v Wolves | Thursday 3rd October 2019, 17:55 | BT Sport
Wolves got their first league win of the season on Saturday as they overcame a hapless Watford side at Molineux. The Old Gold now turn their attentions to the Europa League on Thursday night when they take on Besiktas in Istanbul.
This will be a big test for Wolves, having underwhelmed in their last group game against Braga, they’ll need to make sure they get a positive result to harbour any hope of qualifying from a tough group. Their performance against Watford was a good one and they are up against another side who have also been struggling for consistency, which should aid the visitors cause.
Besiktas have started their season in a similar fashion and they were thumped 4-2 in their opening group match. The home side are without a win in four across all competitions so they’ll be desperate to get their season back on track. That defeat on the opening day means that the hosts have now lost four of their last six Europa League group-stage games.
The Turks weren’t helped by Loris Karius’ goalkeeping howler in their curtain-raiser, and they seem to have struggled defensively conceding 13 goals in their last five. You’d imagine there would be plenty of opportunity for Wolves to exploit this seemingly weak Besiktas side.
Going to Besiktas has often been seen as a tough trip and there have been English sides who have struggled there before. However, I think Wolves’ win away at Torino in the qualifying rounds will hold them good stead and they should be able to draw upon that experience in Italy to help them gain a good result here.
Wolves usually have a good defence and they should be able to put that to good use here. They have conceded 11 in the Premier League this season but five of those came against Chelsea, a result which seems like an anomaly compared to their other matches.
Besiktas aren’t the biggest scorers at home either and they have been limited to two goals in their last two home matches against weaker opposition. Wolves are 29/20 (BetVictor) to win this match and I think they would be good value for that.
Raul Jimenez, will most likely lead the line again in Turkey and he has been in good form in the competition so far with seven goals in six games. He’ll be looked upon to finish off any attacks that the visitors have. Jiminez is 7/4 (SkyBet) to score at anytime and I think that is a good angle.
Best Bets
Besiktas v Wolves – Wolves to win (29/20 BetVictor)
Besiktas v Wolves – Raul Jimenez to score at anytime (7/4 SkyBet)
