Turkey’s hopes for a return to the World Cup after more than two decades remain alive as they prepare to host Bulgaria. This match in Group E has Turkey in second place and Bulgaria at the bottom. Read on for our prediction.
Turkey have banked nine points after only losing to Spain in their four matches in this group. They need to only avoid defeat on Saturday to secure the second spot.
Heading into the final two rounds, Turkey still have an outside chance of finishing on top, as they face leaders Spain next week. The Crescent-Stars blanked Georgia 4-1 last time out, building on an earlier 6-1 win over Bulgaria.
With two wins and 10 goals, Turkey responded to their 6-0 loss to Spain. Now it is time for Bulgaria to have their response to the 6-1 defeat to Turkey.
Right after that loss, they fell 4-0 to Spain in what’s their latest outing. Bulgaria have been the whipping boys in this group, losing all their four matches.
This run builds on a nine-match winless streak, with seven defeats in the process. In their last five games, Bulgaria scored just once. It may give them some hope that the sole goal was scored against Turkey.
Turkey bounced back from the devastating 6-0 loss at the hands of the European champions by crushing the other two members of Group E. Last month’s international break saw them win 4-1 over Georgia and 6-1 away in Bulgaria.
Mathematically, the Crescent-Stars still have a shot at claiming automatic qualification, but for that to happen, Spain must fail in Tbilisi and Turkey have to beat Bulgaria again.
Meanwhile, the Lions are chasing records, but not the good type. The latest devastating WCQ cycle could be their worst since 1954, when they last failed to win a single qualification match. Bulgaria lost all four games to date, scoring a single goal against 16 conceded. And overall, the visitors have not won a match in exactly a year, when they beat Luxembourg 1-0 away.
Bulgaria and Turkey have not met a lot of times for neighbouring countries, with last month’s clash being their first in a decade. We all know that the Crescent-Stars had their way away in Bulgaria with 6-1, but they also won four of the last five H2Hs.
Bulgaria’s last win over Turkey dates back to 2005, when they won 3-1 in Sofia.
Probable line-ups
Turkey: Cakir, Muldur, Demiral, Bardakci, Kadioglu, Yuksek, Calhanoglu, Aydin, Guler, Yildiz, Akturkoglu.
Bulgaria: Mitov, Petkov, Chernev, Hristov, Nedyalkov, Kirilov, Filip, Gruev, Shopov, Minchev, Despodov.
