Burnley Continue Europa League Dream in Turkey
The third qualifying round of the 2018/19 UEFA Europa League takes place this week and there are plenty of matches to enjoy on Thursday night. One of the top fixtures sees Istanbul Basaksehir host Burnley at the Basaksehir Fatih Terim Stadium.
Istanbul Basaksehir finished third in the Turkish Super Lig last season. They were just 3 points off the champions Galatasaray and finished level on points with second place Fenerbahce, losing out on head-to-head goal difference.
Burnley finished seventh in the English Premier League. It was a great achievement for the club who essentially won the mini-league behind the top six teams in England.
Istanbul Basaksehir will be playing their first competitive match of the season on Thursday night. The Turkish league does not start until the following weekend and thanks to their position in the league last season, they have entered the Europa League at this stage of the competition.
This will be Istanbul Basaksehir’s fourth appearance in European competition and they were eliminated from the Champions League at the playoff stage last season before entering the Europa League at the group stage.
Trends show Istanbul Basaksehir were undefeated in their three home Europa League matches last season. They defeated Braga 2-1 and were held to a draw by Ludogorets and Hoffenheim. Istanbul Basaksehir have a strong overall record at home and have lost only one of their last 21 competitive matches at the Basaksehir Fatih Terim Stadium. They have won 15 of those 21 games.
You must go back to the 1966–67 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup to find the last time Burnley played in Europe. They reached the quarter-final of the tournament before going out to Eintracht Frankfurt 3-2 on aggregate.
Although the Premier League is yet to begin this season, Burnley have already played two competitive games having been drawn against Aberdeen in the second qualifying round of the Europa League. Burnley took advantage of playing in-front of their own fans to score two goals in extra-time and progress 4-2 on aggregate.
Burnley’s away form improved tremendously last season and having picked up a draw at Aberdeen in the second qualifying round they will believe they can come away from this game with a positive result.
Looking ahead to the team news and Istanbul Basaksehir have doubts over former Premier League striker Emmanuel Adebayor who has been suffering from illness. Arda Turan is suspended domestically but is available for this game.
Burnley have a lengthy injury list with goalkeeper Nick Pope being the major casualty. There are also doubts over Tom Heaton, Chris Wood, Stephen Ward, Aaron Lennon, Robert Brady and Steven Defour.on this is likely to be a tougher test for Burnley than they faced at Aberdeen. Expect Istanbul Basaksehir to come away with a narrow win to make things interesting ahead of the second leg next week.
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