Besiktas V Goztepe Betting Tips: Under 2.5 Goals – 23 August 2019

Goals could be at a premium in Istanbul

International Football Tips

Besiktas V Goztepe

Friday 23rd August 2019 – 18:30 Kick-Off
Turkish Super Lig
Pick: Under 2.5 Goals
Odds: 21/20
Bookmaker: Betfair

1 X 2
13/25 67/20 28/5

* (All betting odds displayed were correct as of 21st August 2019 at 12:20)

Preview: Last season, Besiktas narrowly missed out on the league title to ultimately finish in third position. Meanwhile Goztepe barely avoided relegation to finish a single point above the drop zone. Unsurprisingly, it is Besiktas who are favourites here, looking to win this fixture for the third season running. Vodafone Park, the home of Besiktas in Istanbul, is the venue.

Turkish Football Betting with 22Bet

 

Besiktas Preview – Seventh successive home league victory beckons?

Third last season, second from bottom this season. Football in Turkey may have only returned a week ago but Besiktas made the worst possible start, beginning their quest for a first league title since 2017 by losing 3-0 away to Sivasspor. The Black Eagles will seek to make amends at the first attempt when they take on Goztepe, facing a team they have managed to register wins against in each of the past two campaigns as the home side.

Besiktas were the victors in this same fixture last season, though it was closer than anticipated; captain Burak Yilmaz popping up with the only goal of the game shortly after half-time. Meanwhile, the season before seen them rack up five goals in a comprehensive 5-1 win. So the omens are at least positive, though that opening day defeat will only have added to the uncertainty surrounding this team’s current potential on the back of a disappointing pre-season.

A 2-2 draw with Panathinaikos a week before the season commenced ensured Besiktas concluded their pre-season escapades by failing to win any of their last five friendlies (they also faced Brescia, Udinese, Apollon and Eibar). In fact, those two goals scored against the Greek side were the only ones Besiktas managed throughout this dire run; and while friendlies are not the best of barometers, that form is worrying at the very least.

Home comforts might come to their rescue. Last season, Besiktas ended a rueful campaign, in which they came within four points of lifting the title, by winning six games in a row at their Vodafone Park stadium in Istanbul. Five of those triumphs featured both teams scoring and a bet on Besiktas winning with both teams scoring could be one option at 9/4 with Bet365.

Besiktas 1-0 Correct Score
6/1

Bet365

 

Goztepe Preview – Any hope for one of last season’s poorest travellers?

Not quite beginning this season as they finished the last but Goztepe’s 1-0 defeat at home to Antalyaspor on the opening weekend did continue a bad habit carried over from the last campaign, which is losing games of football in the Turkish Super Lig. It seems unlikely they will break the habit here, either, in a fixture they last avoided defeat in way back in 2002 – losing on all three of their visits to Besiktas since.

Just one team – an Akhisarspor side which would finish rock-bottom – recorded more league defeats in 2018/19 than Goztepe (18), who fell to twelve of those losses when playing as the away side. Their return of 11 points from 17 away fixtures (W3 D2 L12) was the second-worst figures in the division. Taking both into account, it seems remarkable the club even managed to retain their topflight status.

However, the reason the club are still competing at the top level of Turkish football was a stunning spell of form towards the very end which seen them string together a five game unbeaten run (W3 D2). That included four points from a possible six on the road, with three of them coming courtesy of a shock 2-0 win away to Istanbul Basaksehir, a team that would finish ahead of Besiktas in second place.

A potential issue for Goztepe, though, could very well be goals. That shock win at Basaksehir being the only occasion in their last four away encounters the team could even locate the back of the net, scoring considerably fewer goals (13) compared to when back at home (24). Last season featured to nil defeats away to Besiktas (1-0), Galatasaray (1-0) and Fenerbahce (2-0).

 

Besiktas V Goztepe Key Facts:

  • Besiktas could boast of the second-best home record in 2018/19 (W12 D3 L2) and have won the previous six such fixtures in a row.
  • Just one team produced worse away figures last season than Goztepe (W3 D2 L12).
  • The previous two league meetings at Besiktas have been won by the home side, who were 1-0 victors last season.

 

Betting Summary

Besiktas begun the season in a similar fashion to how they had been performing in pre-season, which was producing some unconvincing stuff. A resounding 3-0 defeat away to Sivasspor on the opening matchday won’t have done team morale much good. They will, though, be bidding to extend their current six match winning streak at home in the league, against an opponent they have beaten in each of the past two seasons as the home side.

Some spirited form at the very end ensured Goztepe somehow avoided relegation last season, finishing one position and a single point above the relegation zone. They did, however, produce the second-worst away figures in the league (W3 D2 L12, GF13 GA22), failing to even score half of the time (53%) including in four of the last five – though that one anomaly was a stunning 2-0 win at Istanbul Basaksehir.

The visitors possess such an atrocious recent record away from home that we cannot possibly back them, even up against a Besiktas side that were humbled on the opening matchday. The hosts are bidding to secure a seventh straight home win and should just about achieve that, but this could be a dull slog of a contest. Home fixtures for Besiktas were some of the more entertaining last season, with 73% returning both teams to score, but their recent form fails to inspire. Goztepe, meanwhile, are not prolific by any means but have shown a capacity to restrict the league’s big names.