Bulgaria vs Turkey Prediction: Calhanoglu to celebrate centurion club in style

Bulgarian and Turkish supporters will both be hoping to see reactions from their sides when the two nations meet at National Stadium Vasil Levski in Sofia on Saturday (19:45 BST). Bulgaria have lost both of their Uefa World Cup qualifiers by a 3-0 scoreline, at home to Spain and away to Georgia, while Turkey began Group E with a 3-2 win in Georgia before taking a 6-0 hiding at home from Spain.

Below are my Bulgaria vs Turkey predictions, supported by all the latest team news and match odds.

Team News

Bulgaria's squad includes a UK-based contingent, comprising Dimitar Mitov (Aberdeen), Filip Krastev (Oxford United), and Ilia Gruev (Leeds United).

Skipper Kiril Despodov (PAOK) is also in line to feature in October qualifiers against Turkey and Spain, but Emil Tsenov (Orenburg) has pulled out due to injury.

Football Odds

Vincenzo Montella's Turkey squad features Manchester United goalkeeper Altay Bayindir and Brighton & Hove Albion full-back Ferdi Kadioglu, as well as Real Madrid playmaker Arda Guler and Juventus forward Kenan Yildiz.

Galatasaray attacker Baris Alper Yilmaz was sent off in Turkey's 3-2 victory over Georgia on September 4 and was suspended for their loss to Spain three days later, but he's available for selection in Sofia.

Today's Football Fixtures

Bulgaria vs Turkey Odds

Bulgaria haven't tasted success since beating Luxembourg 1-0 in November last year, drawing twice and losing five times since. The Lions are 11/1, or an 8.3% chance, to end their winless run on Saturday, with Turkey priced at 1/4 (80%) to make it two wins from two away games in Group E.

The draw is available at 5/1, both teams to score at 11/10, and over 2.5 total goals at 8/13.

Anytime Goalscorer - Hakan Calhanoglu (TUR) @ 7/4

Turkey captain Hakan Calhanoglu is set to make his 100th appearance for the national team on Saturday, with Rustu Recber's record of 120 caps now in sight.

The 31-year-old, who plies his trade in Italy with Serie A giants Inter, has scored 21 times for his country, netting against 18 different nations - including Bulgaria, against whom he bagged a brace the last time the Crescent-Stars and the Lions met, in June 2015 (Turkey won 4-0).

Calhanoglu has found the net once in four appearances for Turkey this calendar year, opening the scoring with a successfully converted penalty in a 3-0 victory over Hungary in March.

He's already scored twice for his club side this season, with both goals coming in a 4-3 defeat to Juventus on September 13, and he'll fancy his chances of striking against Bulgaria, who have conceded at least two goals in their last five games, shipping 16 in total.

A single goal in Sofia would see Calhanoglu equal Tuncay Sanli’s 22-goal tally, propelling him into joint-third place on Turkey’s all-time scoring chart.

Player to Receive a Card - Ferdi Kadioglu (TUR) @ 7/2

It remains to be seen whether Kadioglu, or Galatasaray's Eren Elmali, starts for Turkey at left-back on Saturday. Elmali began both of last month's qualifiers but was taken off for Kadioglu in the 63rd minute of his country's 6-0 defeat to Spain - a minute after the last goal went in.

The Gala full-back hasn't started for his club side since September 26, either, only coming on in the 85th minute of a 1-0 victory over Liverpool, and the 77th minute of a 1-1 draw with Besiktas.

Kadioglu, on the other hand, has started all five of Brighton's matches since the September international break, making him the favourite to begin Turkey's qualifier in Sofia this weekend.

The 26-year-old has been booked three times in eight appearances for the Seagulls this season, and has committed four fouls across his last three games.

On Saturday, Kadioglu could be up against Bulgaria's Martin Petkov, who only came off the bench at half-time of his country's defeat to Spain on September 4, but was fouled a whopping six times by the European champions. The 22-year-old, who plays for Levski Sofia, is averaging 0.8 fouls won per game for his club side in this season's Parva Liga, despite seven of his 10 appearances coming as a substitute.

Petkov caused problems for the Republic of Ireland in a Uefa Nations League match earlier this year, drawing yellow-card challenges from midfielder Jason Knight and right-winger Mikey Johnston in a 2-1 defeat at the Aviva Stadium, where he was upended four times before departing the field in the 77th minute.

Belarusian left wing-back Dmitriy Prishchepa was also booked for fouling Petkov in the 10th minute of a 1-1 draw in Sofia last November, having committed his first offence on him in the opening 60 seconds.

Whoever starts at left-back for Turkey on Saturday is likely to be in for a tough night against foul-magnet Petkov, so 7/2 for a Kadioglu card, or 4/1 for an Elmali caution, should be considered.

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