Football Bet of the Day: Black Eagles to soar on derby day

Besiktas v Istanbul Basaksehir
Monday October 23, 18:00

A positive week for Tobias, but with a frustrating end yesterday. Atletico Madrid beat Celta Vigo at Balaidos, just as TG predicted, but Kevin Gameiro's winner came the wrong side of half-time.

We're starting what we hope will be a decent week in Istanbul, because it's been derby weekend in the Turkish metropolis. Galatasaray and Fenerbahce played out a goalless draw last night, and now it's Besiktas and Istanbul Basaksehir's turn to step up and try to shine.

Istanbul Basaksehir were only founded in 1990, they were getting crowds in the hundreds not that long ago, and yet they have been competing at the top end of Turkish football for the last 18 months. They led the Turkish Super Lig for big swathes of last season, and reached the Turkish Cup final, an incredible achievement by their excellent coach Abdullah Avci.

However, there was to be no fairytale victory in the league or the cup. Besiktas pipped them in both competitions, retaining their league crown and winning the cup on penalties after a captivating draw.

Besiktas are on strong form. They have only dropped two points at home in the league, and in the Champions League they are flying after back-to-back victories against RB Leipzig and Monaco.

Basaksehir are two points better off in the league, but they've only won twice away from home this season, and they've lost three of their last four on the road in all competitions. I saw them lose 3-1 at Hoffenheim on Thursday in the Europa League, and they were pretty poor, with almost no service to the front two.

Avci rested players like Eljero Elia on Thursday, while Emre and Emmanuel Adebayor stayed behind, but the latter two have injury problems and aren't guaranteed to start. Even though Ryan Babel is suspended for the hosts, they should have enough firepower with the likes of Ricardo Quaresma, Cenk Tosun and Anderson Talisca to get the job done.

Recommended Bet
Back Besiktas to win at 1.75