Wolves v Besiktas: Expect goals in dead-rubber encounter

WOLVES conclude their Europa League group-stage campaign on Thursday night against Besiktas. Anthony Olsson (@Ant_olsson93) analyses the encounter.

Wolves v Besiktas | Thursday 12th December 2019, 20:00 | BT Sport

Wolves host Besiktas in the last round of group games in this season’s Europa League and they have the chance to top the group should results go their way. The Old Gold have already qualified for the knockout phase, which is very impressive considering they were in what looked like a tough group on paper.

So far, Wolves have managed to gain 10 points from their five games and they’ll be looking to try and give themselves an easier draw by taking top pool honours. Nuno Espirito Santo’s men haven’t been great at home though, winning once and scoring a solitary goal.

Nevertheless, Wolves do get to face a Besiktas side who struggle on their travels in the Europa League. The Turkish side have an underwhelming record having won just six of their 17 away matches.

The visitors do have a good record of late having won their last six competitive games and they could find themselves grabbing a good result if Wolves rest some of their starting team. The Turkish side are priced at 6/1 (Bet365) to win the match.

This game has a bit of a dead-rubber feel to it, I’m not sure how strongly Wolves will be looking to finish top and resting players is a big possibility with the upcoming Christmas fixture list on the horizon. I think this match does have the potential for goals though and I like the look of Both Teams To Score at 21/20 (Vbet).

Wolves have managed to score twice or more goals in five of their last six and Besiktas have notched two goals or more in four out of their last six outings.

Another angle I like in this match is in the Anytime Goalscorer market. Wolves wing-back, Matt Doherty, has been in good form in front of goal lately and should he get enough time on the pitch could find himself with a few chances to score.

Doherty has two goals in six appearances in the competition and has three goals in his last six encounters for club and country. Doherty is 4/1 (Bet365) to find the back of the net at any time.

This could be an intriguing game and hopefully it should provide a few goals for the neutral. If Wolves rotate their side it will be interesting to see how the fringe players fair against a rather unpredictable Besiktas side.