Besiktas JK vs Genclerbirligi
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Today’s free tip is in the Turkish Super Lig encounter between Besiktas JK and Genclerbirligi.
It’s been quite some time since I trusted Besiktas JK to actually win a game, never mind handicap an opponent. They’ve made a lot of bad and/or strange calls over the past year or two, letting good players to leave without signing sufficient replacements. I still don’t think that this is a particularly good team. Despite the Super Lig being highly competitive, the top teams are not at their best. Galatasaray have looked good since Terim changed his style of play, but Fenerbahce and Besiktas JK have done little for me in the past couple of years. Trabzonspor are good but end up losing players too easily so this league has become very interesting, competitive, but also with less quality from the top teams.
Pre-season, the Istanbul juggernauts waved farewell to a number of players, which bizarrely included parting ways with experienced defenders like Caner and Gonul to bitter rivals Fenerbahce. Victor Ruiz returned to Spain to play for Real Betis Balompie, star striker Yilmaz moved to Lille OSC, and Elneny’s loan spell ended so he’s back at Arsenal. Some substantial losses in there for Besiktas JK, and up until recently, I really wasn’t convinced that they had done enough for the season ahead. I didn’t see a route to goal, for starters, and there was very little depth.
What Besiktas JK have done though, which is quite clever, was to sign players that have already impressed in the Super Lig; players that weren’t expensive either. Take midfielder Mensah, for example – he’s been a great enforcer for Kayserispor, and is expected to become the new Hutchinson in due course. Welinton from Alanayaspor – another shrewd signing. The best of the lot was Nsakala though, probably the best player of last season at Alanyaspor. He’s a brilliant attacking full-back, and Besiktas JK need somebody that can be as unpredictable as he can.
Now, those players made the team competitive in a Super Lig sense; still able to dominate most teams, basically, but utterly clueless in Europe (as you’ve all already seen, no doubt!). They’ve still been a bit short of star quality though – until lately. In the past two weeks, they’ve added Tore, Aboubakar, and Rosier. Rosier will be the Nsakala of the right-hand side, and should restore Besiktas JK to having a good wide threat again, or at least that’s the idea; time will tell how well the Frenchman settles, but he’s good enough to succeed in this squad. Tore hasn’t played well for years but his best spells were with Besiktas JK so it could be a brilliant signing – if he gets fit/confident again. He’s a very capable winger. The best one was Aboubakar though, as the Cameroonian striker affords Besiktas JK mobility and finesse. They don’t have a goal-scorer in their squad, or at least they didn’t – but now they do. He should start today after a brief cameo against Konyaspor too, and he can reach the levels he last did at Besiktas JK, he’ll shepherd this team to a very good finish this season.
I still find Besiktas JK to be short of depth but they’ve done good work of late, and now I trust them again because of it. They may not have their fans roaring them on here, but they should be good enough to win this one without too much fuss, all things considered. Not many Super Lig games nowadays are ‘easy’, if indeed any, but this is not an especially good Genclerbirligi side, and they’ve been playing rather poorly too. If Besiktas JK are to handicap anyone, it’s Genclerbirligi.
I worried when I saw Genclerbirligi parted ways with star playmaker Sessegnon pre-season. It was inevitable at some stage, given his age, but I’ve seen no replacements come in for the Benin legend. Genclerbirligi are not naturally good enough at attacking to play without someone like that, in my opinion. Sessegnon was not the only one to leave either, with Swedish centre-back joining IFK Goteborg, Brazilian midfielder Baiano joining Rizespor, and his fellow countryman Flavio now with Trabzonspor. They did sign Diego Angelo and Johansson to at least aid their defence, and tricky attacker Yildirim joined from Yeni Malatyaspor. That’s it, though. For me, that’s just not enough for the Super Lig right now.
I don’t want to give you the wrong impression of Genclerbirligi though; they’re not terrible. Indeed, they’re only lacking in one area, which is creativity. Unfortunately for the capital club, that’s a pretty big area to have an issue with. They’ve got an excellent finisher in Stancu, who knows the Super Lig inside out by now, and Sio will win most balls that reach him in the air too. Ayite applies himself well enough too. It’s just that they’re starved of service, for the most part. Genclerbirligi aren’t losing games at the moment because they’ve been unlucky in some capacity; they’re losing because they’re not creating chances. Losing at this Antalyaspor side is acceptable enough, but drawing 0-0 at home against Konyaspor? There’s no part of that which I find acceptable.
Again, I don’t think it’ll take more than one, possibly two, players to turn Genclerbirligi back into the annoying, frequently underestimated team that they tend to be. At this moment in time, however, opposing them makes a lot of sense. Their defence isn’t settled yet, and their strikers are not getting any kind of service. Considering that Besiktas JK have finally had a week’s rest to prepare for this match, and that they’ve finally done enough in attack to be trusted, I believe we’ll see a bit of a one-way street here.
One other thing to consider is that the expectation is that Genclerbirligi will sack boss Mert Nobre at some stage. Mustafa Kaplan is expecting to be named as his successor when it does happen, and the certainty of it seems…well, certain, given that Kaplan is already trying to recruit a team of coaches for when it transpires. Kaplan is a good friend of the Genclerbirligi president too, so it would make sense. Because all of this is happening, it’s safe to say that not all is well behind the scenes at Genclerbirligi, never mind on the pitch, so it’s hard to imagine them putting in a particularly good display today.
Therefore, I’ll happily stick my neck on the chopping block by backing the Istanbul heavyweights to clear the -1 Asian Handicap at 51/50 against a surprisingly predictable Genclerbirligi side.
Verdict: Besiktas JK to beat the –1 Asian Handicap at 51/50.
Sunday’s Thoughts
As ever, if there are any explanations required then please feel free to post a comment! For the remainder of my thoughts on today’s games, see below, although I feel compelled to write that the below are not necessarily my tips but merely my thoughts. For confidence ratings, you’ll need to go to the members section here.
Austrian Bundesliga:
Sturm Graz vs SCR Altach
Salzburg vs Hartberg
Rapid Vienna vs LASK
Belgian Eerste Klasse:
Club Brugge vs RSC Anderlecht
AA Gent vs Beerschot-Wilrijk
Sporting Charleroi vs Standard de Liege
KV Oostende vs Royal Excel Mouscron
Brazilian Serie A:
Botafogo vs Fluminense
Flamengo vs Athletico Paranaense
Bahia vs Sport Recife
Coritiba vs Sao Paulo
Fortaleza vs Atletico Goianiense
Goias vs Santos
Atletico Mineiro vs Vasco da Gama
Bulgarian A PFG:
Etar vs CSKA Sofia
Beroe vs Lokomotiv Plovdiv
Arda vs Ludogorets Razgrad
Croatian Prva Liga:
Varazdin vs Dinamo Zagreb
Rijeka vs Slaven Koprivnica
Czech Republic Liga 1:
Sigma Olomouc vs Viktoria Plzen
Bohemians 1905 vs Zlin
Slovan Liberec vs Marila Pribram
Banik Ostrava vs Slavia Prague
Danish Superligaen:
OB vs Vejle
Lyngby vs SonderjyskE
Aalborg BK vs AGF
AC Horsens vs FC Midtjylland
FC Copenhagen vs FC Nordsjaelland
English Premier League:
Leicester City vs West Ham United
Southampton vs West Bromwich Albion
Arsenal vs Sheffield United
Wolverhampton Wanderers vs Fulham
Manchester United vs Tottenham Hotspur
Aston Villa vs Liverpool
Estonian Meistriliiga:
Nomme Kalju vs Legion
Flora Tallinn vs Tulevik
Flora Paide vs FCI Levadia Tallinn
Faroese Betrideildin:
HB Torshavn vs Skala
AB vs NSI Runavik
EB/Streymur vs B36 Torshavn
Finnish Ykkonen:
Jaro Pietarsaari vs KPV
Kajaani vs VPS
KTP vs AC Oulu
MP vs SJK-Akatemia
MyPa vs MuSa
Gnistan vs Ekenas IF
French Ligue 1:
Montpellier HSC vs Nimes Olympique
Girondins de Bordeaux vs Dijon FCO
Stade Brestois vs AS Monaco
Metz vs Lorient
Racing Club Strasbourg vs Lille OSC
Stade Rennais vs Stade de Reims
Olympique Lyonnais vs Olympique de Marseille
German Bundesliga:
VfL Wolfsburg vs Augsburg
Bayern Munich vs Hertha Berlin
German Bundesliga 2:
Hamburger SV vs Erzgebirge Aue
Holstein Kiel vs Fortuna Dusseldorf
Wurzburger Kickers vs Greuther Furth
Hungarian Liga 1:
Zalaegerszegi TE vs Budapest Honved
Ferencvaros vs Puskas FC
Fehervar vs Ujpest
Icelandic Pepsideild:
Vikingur Reykjavik vs KA
IA vs FH
HK vs KR
Stjarnan Gardabaer vs Fjolnir Reykjavik
Breidablik Kopavogur vs Fylkir Reykjavik
Valur Reykjavik vs Grotta
Italian Serie A:
Atalanta Bergamo vs Cagliari
Benevento vs Bologna
SS Lazio vs Internazionale
Parma vs Hellas Verona
AC Milan vs Spezia
Juventus vs SSC Napoli
Italian Serie B:
Pisa vs Cremonese
Cittadella vs Brescia
Dutch Eredivisie
FC Groningen vs AFC Ajax Amsterdam
Sparta Rotterdam vs AZ Alkmaar
Willem II vs Feyenoord Rotterdam
PSV Eindhoven vs Fortuna Sittard
Norwegian Eliteserien:
Aalesund FK vs Kristiansund
Brann Bergen vs Molde FK
Bodo/Glimt vs Sandefjord
Viking Stavanger vs Stromsgodset
Start Kristiansand vs Haugesund
Rosenborg BK vs Odd
Portuguese Liga 1:
CD Nacional de Madeira vs Belenenses
Famalicao vs Rio Ave
SL Benfica vs Farense
Portimonense vs Sporting Clube de Portugal
Portuguese Liga 2
SL Benfica II vs Estoril
Varzim vs Academica de Coimbra
Academico Viseu vs Leixoes Matosinhos
FC Porto II vs Vilafranquense
Russian Premier League:
Lokomotiv Moscow vs FK Khimki
PFC Sochi vs FK Rostov
Rubin Kazan vs Akhmat Grozny
Dinamo Moscow vs FK Krasnodar
Spanish Primera Liga:
CA Osasuna vs Celta de Vigo
Deportivo Alaves vs Athletic Club
Levante CF vs Real Madrid
Cadiz vs Granada CF
Barcelona CF vs Sevilla CF
Swedish Allsvenskan:
Hammarby vs Djurgarden
Ostersunds FK vs AIK Solna
Mjallby Solvesborg vs Helsingborg
IFK Norrkoping vs Sirius
IFK Goteborg vs Varberg
Kalmar FF vs Malmo FF
Swiss Super League:
FC Basel vs Luzern
St. Gallen vs Servette
Young Boys Bern vs Vaduz
Swiss Challenge League:
FC Schaffhausen vs Stade Lausanne-Ouchy
Turkish Super Lig:
Denizlispor vs Konyaspor
Alanyaspor vs Hatayspor
Besiktas JK vs Genclerbirligi
Kasimpasa vs Galatasaray
Enjoy your free betting tips!