Galatasaray vs PAOK Prediction: Yilmaz to net landmark goal in Istanbul

Galatasaray go in search of a fifth-straight win on Wednesday (20:00, TNT Sports 5) when they host PAOK at Rams Park in the League Phase of the Uefa Europa League. The Turkish giants suffered a setback last month when they were knocked out of the Champions League in the play-off round by Young Boys, but Okan Buruk's side now have a great opportunity to go far in European club football's second-tier competition.

Read below for my Galatasaray vs PAOK prediction, complete with all the latest team news and match odds, as the Greeks look to pull off an upset in Istanbul.

Team News

The biggest decision for Buruk to make ahead of this game is whether to start Napoli loanee Victor Osimhen or Michy Batshuayi, who has four goals since joining from bitter rivals Fenerbahce. Osimhen is the marquee name in the Galatasaray squad after four goal-laden campaigns in Serie A caught the attention of Europe's biggest clubs, but the Nigerian was forced to accept a post-August move to Turkey after potential moves to Chelsea and Al-Ahli broke down.

Osimhen has started both Galatasaray games he has been available for but failed to score in wins against Rizespor or Fenerbahce while Belgian striker Batshuayi struck on his last start, a 3-1 win against Gaziantep last Tuesday, and bagged a brace in the first leg of Gala's play-off tie with Young Boys last month.

Uruguayan goalkeeper Fernando Muslera definitely won't be featuring on Wednesday as he serves a suspension for the red card he received in the second leg of his side's Champions League play-off tie, meaning 33-year-old Gunay Guvenc will come into the starting XI for the visit of PAOK.

Last season's top scorer Mauro Icardi and former Chelsea winger Hakim Ziyech are both injured, while summer signing Roland Sallai has not been named in their European squad list.

Football Odds

PAOK beat Volos 4-1 in the Greek Super League last Saturday but Romanian head coach Razvan Lucescu could opt to make changes for Wednesday's Istanbul encounter.

Tiemoue Bakayoko made his debut for the Aspromavri on the weekend and could come into the starting XI to add some European experience, further supplemented by 38-year-old Vierinha.

Ex-Wolves defender Jonny Otto and Russian attacker Fedor Chalov - who scored off the bench against Volos - may also be promoted to the lineup.

Shola Shoretire, who joined the Greek side in the summer from Manchester United, could be called upon later into the game.

Andrija Zivkovic, Antonis Tsiftsis and Brandon Thomas are all doubts.

Galatasaray vs PAOK Odds

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Galatasaray are 4/7 to triumph in their first Europa League match this season, giving the hosts an implied win probability of 63.6%, while PAOK are 9/2, or an 18.2% chance, to claim all three points in Turkey.

The draw is available at 16/5, both teams to score at 4/6, and over 2.5 total goals at 4/7.

Match Result & Both Teams to Score - Galatasaray & Yes @ 15/8

Galatasaray barely put a foot wrong in the Turkish Super Lig last season, collecting 102 points from 114 available to beat Fenerbahce to the title by three points, and they've started the 2024/25 league campaign perfectly, winning all six games and scoring 20 times.

However, they've conceded five league goals and lost the three matches they've played outside the Super Lig, suffering a 5-0 humiliation at the hands of Besiktas in the Turkish Super Cup before losing both legs of their Champions League play-off tie with Young Boys, going down 4-2 on aggregate to the Swiss side.

Clearly, Galatasaray are a strong team domestically, but they're far from perfect in Europe, which was also seen in their Europa League knockout round play-off tie with Sparta Prague in February when they won the first leg 3-2 in Istanbul before imploding in the return fixture, losing 4-1 in the Czech Republic. The first leg, as well as their other results in the 2023/24 campaign, highlight their strength at Rams Park, though.

Gala won 18 of their 19 home league games last season, only losing 1-0 there in the Super Lig to Fenerbahce, while across seven European contests, only Bayern Munich managed to get the better of them (1-3).

However, PAOK may offer a stern examination of their credentials if the Greek club's Europa League group-stage results last season are anything to go by. Aspromavri won all three away games in Group G, beating HJK Helsinki, Aberdeen and Eintracht Frankfurt in their own backyard en route to topping the table unbeaten.

PAOK's away run came to an end in the round of 16, though, as they lost 2-0 to Dinamo Zagreb in Croatia, and after beating them 5-1 in Thessaloniki in the second leg, they lost 1-0 to Club Brugge in Belgium, being knocked out 3-0 on aggregate.

Like Galatasaray, the Greek Super League reigning champions suffered Champions League disappointment in the summer, bowing out to Swedish side Malmo in the second qualifying round, but they beat Shamrock Rovers 6-0 on aggregate in the Europa League play-offs to book their spot in the new-look League Phase and are top of their domestic division after five games played.

Both teams to score has landed in two of PAOK's last three matches, and three of their four Champions League qualifiers, while BTTS - Yes has been a winner in six of Gala's last seven games, five of which they have won.

There should be goals in this one, but I'm backing home advantage to play a part in Gala's success.

Anytime Goal Scorer - Baris Yilmaz @ 2/1

Osimhen and Batshuayi are the obvious shouts to score for Gala on Wednesday, but there's a bit more value to be had in backing Baris Yilmaz to find the net.

Yilmaz is tied with Batshuayi on four goals as Gala's top scorer so far this season, with all of his strikes arriving in the Super Lig, where he lags only behind Fenerbahce's Edin Dzeko in the Golden Boot race.

The 24-year-old has started all eight games for Gala since coming on as a half-time substitute in their Super Cup defeat to Besiktas, where he was stepping up his return to full fitness after only recently returning to training following his exertions at Euro 2024.

Yilmaz was a key player for Turkey at the summer championships, playing the duration of their five matches as they narrowly exited the competition to the Netherlands in the quarter-finals, and has shown his importance to his club side already this term.

The next thing to tick off his to-do list is to score a goal in Europe for Gala. So far, the winger is goalless in 19 European appearances, a record he will be seeking to address at the earliest opportunity, and I think that will come on Wednesday against a side that conceded in both halves of their 2-2 draw in Sweden with Malmo last month.

I'm expecting Gala to score a couple of goals at least at Rams Park, and there's a good chance Yilmaz will be one of the scorers in Istanbul.

Offers

Place an In-Play single bet of £10 or more at odds of 1/2+ on any Carabao Cup or Europa League game on Wednesday and get £5 in Free Bets to use In-Play on Thursday’s Europa League games.

Acca Flex: Place a pre-match 5+ leg Football accumulator and get a CASH bonus up to 100% if all of your selections win or your money back as CASH if one leg lets you down.

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