Marseille vs Galatasaray: The Istanbul side is too unstable

One of Matchday 2 of the Europa League will be the clash between Marseille and Galatasaray. The Phocaeans are the clear favourites to clinch their first win of the current European competition.

Jorge Sampaoli began to build a new team last year, and the start of this season has been very optimistic for Marseille. The Phocaeans side has looked reasonably confident on both sides of the pitch, and the results have been encouraging. In Ligue 1, the team is in third place with a match to spare, and they have won 4 games in 8 games. Marseille got off to a 1-1 draw against Lokomotiv in the Europa League, and the French side could have hoped for more. There are no serious problems with the squad of the host side, and Arkadiusz Milik may be back on form by Thursday. The Polish forward was expected to appear in the last league round, but the club has been cautious so far. Dimitri Payet escaped a serious injury last week, and only Boubacar Kamara remains out.

Jorge Sampaoli’s side was at home to Lance in their last Ligue 1 fixture, losing 2-3. The meeting was intense, with Marseille trailing by two goals in the first half but had time to get back into the game by half-time. With the score at 2-2, the Phocaeans could have taken the lead, but the goalkeeper deflected Bamba Dieng’s dangerous shot. The game’s third goal was closely followed by the fourth, so Marseille’s defensive performance was more than rewarded. Dimitri Payet was the best player on the team as he got the double.

Last season, Galatasaray finished second. Since then, the club has signed some decent players, but they quite possibly lack chemistry at the moment. The departure of Radamel Falcao has also been detrimental to the Istanbul side, who are currently sitting in tenth place in their domestic league table. On top of that, the Lions have suffered many injuries, and it is not sure that Baris Yılmaz, Omar Elabdellaoui, Boey Sacha, and Arda Turan will recover in time for the Europa League. On the plus side, Marcão’s return from suspension was a welcome change from the last game. Nevertheless, Galatasaray got off to a good start in the European competition, beating Lazio 1-0 at home.

In all, they have won just two of their last seven matches, the second of which came in the previous Super League round. The day before, Fatih Terim’s team defeated Göztepe 2-1 at home. Galatasaray failed in the 1st half and rightly conceded the 1st. After the break, the Lions picked up their pace to take a 56th-minute lead. In the end, Alexandru Cicaldau could have increased the Istanbul side’s lead when the opposing goalkeeper reacted.

Galatasaray are unstable at the start of the season, and even the last round’s game is quite indicative in this regard. If the Istanbul side plays the same way they did in the 1st half against Göztepe, they will have no success. Marseille’s defence as a whole has been good for the season, but the encounter with Lens is disappointing in this respect. Nevertheless, the Phocaeans’ side creates one hundred percent chances in every game, particularly at home. Here are our top betting options:

• W1 for 1.71;
• Total Under 2.5 goals for 2.05;
• W1 to nil for 2.80.