The Istanbul club once again finished second in the national Super Lig, although they did manage to claim silverware in the form of the Turkish Super Cup. They have already suffered a few setbacks this season under Kartal and are once again chasing their neighbours, Galatasaray. The English giants failed to retain their Premier League title, finishing only fifth in the spring, and also changed managers. For now, however, they are unlikely to challenge Arsenal and Manchester City on the domestic front.
The Turkish side began their campaign back in the summer in the qualifying rounds. This time, they made it through, eliminating Górnik Zabrze, Sturm and even Lyon. In the league phase, they opened with a draw against Roma, after which Kartal offered his resignation. They were then thrashed 6-0 by Aston Villa. The match against Slavia ended in an entertaining 2-2 draw.
The British side conceded early against Atlético in the opening round but fought back to secure a 2-1 comeback win. They then ran riot against LASK, winning 6-3 with a hat-trick from Barcola. Hosting Villarreal, they initially conceded twice but managed to turn the game around and complete another comeback victory.
Previous matches: Fenerbahçe – Liverpool
Interestingly, despite having travelled to Istanbul several times, the English side have never faced this opponent.
Iraola’s men have hit their stride in the autumn, something that cannot be said about their opponents. We are backing them to win away from home once again (odds – 1.60).
Fenerbahçe – Liverpool: key stats and trends
Fenerbahçe have won one of their last five matches in the competition
Fenerbahçe score an average of 2.4 goals and concede 1 goal per match
Both teams have scored in 50% of Fenerbahçe matches, while the average total goals per match is 3.4
Liverpool won all three of their opening-round matches
Liverpool score an average of 1.38 goals and concede 1 goal per match
Both teams have scored in 38% of Liverpool matches, while the average total goals per match is 2.38
Fenerbahçe – Liverpool: possible starting line-ups
Fenerbahçe play in a 1-4-3-3 formation (possible line-up): Ederson — Nélson Semedo, Škriniar, Aké, Brown — İsmail Yüksek, İrfan Can Kahveci, Gündoğan — Greenwood, Muriqi, Oğuz Aydın
Liverpool 1-4-2-3-1 (possible line-up): Alisson — Frimpong, Araújo, Jaques, Tsimikas — Gravenberch, Nyoni — Barcola, Wirtz, Ngumoha — Koumas
