Galatasaray v Tottenham Hotspur: Prediction, Tips and Odds

Tottenham Hotspur head to Turkey on Thursday looking to maintain their 100 percent record in this season’s UEFA Europa League with a win at Galatasaray.

However, their opponents are clear at the top of their domestic league and unbeaten in the competition themselves, so it could prove a tough test for Ange Postecoglou’s side.

Galatasaray v Tottenham Hotspur betting tips and predictions

Galatasaray to win - 13/10

Tottenham have received a couple of confidence-boosting results in the last week with eye-catching victories over Manchester City and Aston Villa, but they look to have a task on their hands to continue their perfect start to their UEFA Europa League campaign.

Ange Postecoglou’s side head to Istanbul to take on Turkish Super Lig leaders Galatasaray on Thursday, but a series of injury issues could make them vulnerable.

The defence is the biggest concern for the Australian boss, who looks set to go into battle with his preferred centre-back partnership, after Cristian Romero joined Micky van de Ven on the treatment table following Sunday’s 4-1 win over Villa.

Spurs look stretched in that department, with Ben Davies set to pair up with Romanian Radu Dragusin and, while the north London outfit have won their three UEFA Europa League games against Qarabag, Ferencvaros and AZ Alkmaar, this looks like a step up in class.

Their hosts will be confident they can beat a team who have lost their last two Premier League away games as they collapsed from being 2-0 up to lose 3-2 at Brighton and were poor in a 1-0 defeat at Crystal Palace.

Galatasaray have won nine of their 10 league games this season and they were pegged back to 3-3 by Kasimpasa having taken a three-goal led, so there will be no shortage of confidence from the team who have scored 29 goals this term and netted at least twice in six of their seven home games.

So they could be playing Spurs at a good time and preference is for the home team to claim their third win in this year’s competition after successes over PAOK and Elfsborg and a 2-2 draw at Rigas FS.

Radu Dragusin to be booked - 3/1

There is no escaping that the Lilywhites will be weaker with the likely absence of Romero and Van de Ven in Turkey and that means Dragusin could be in for a difficult night.

Spurs will have to keep a strong hold on Victor Omishen or Marco Icardi, or indeed both of Gala’s star strikers, which will put pressure on their Romanian central defender.

Dragusin has had to wait patiently for his opportunities, but has already had a poor UEFA Europa League experience this term when he was sent off for a professional foul after just seven minutes of their home victory over Qarabag.

This could be another occasion when he struggles and he looks a big price to end up in the referee’s notebook.

Baris Yilmaz over 0.5 shots on target - 6/5

Whoever Gala boss Okan Buruk fields as his striker will be the favourite to score the game’s first goal on Thursday, but it is worth keeping an eye on wideman Baris Yilmaz, who should be relied upon to have a shot on target.

The Turkey midfielder has not been shy in his three Europa League appearances this season, having 10 efforts on goal, five of which have troubled the opposition goalkeeper.

He was on target in the 4-3 win over Elfsborg with his fifth goal of the campaign and he can be expected to test Fraser Forster, who is expected to start between the sticks for Spurs.

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Galatasaray v Tottenham Hotspur odds

Galatasaray - 5/4
Draw - 14/5
Tottenham Hotspur - 9/5

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This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.