Analysis: Beşiktaş J.K - Stoke City

Twenty-eight thousand fans are recognized as the best Turkish fans of "Kara Kartallar" which will host Stock on Wednesday. Will the visiting team be able to secure the first place in Group E?

Classification and teams’ condition:
Stoke is confident in its advance and has a 2-point advantage over Besiktas. A tie or a victory of the English will secure their advance from the first place and a privileged position. Only 1 point will be enough for the Turks to advance, but it seems they will not stop and try to collect a set of points and become the leader of this group. We should not forget that Dynamo Kyiv, which has a 3-point gap with Besiktas and is playing with Maccabi, is also taking part in the fight for an advance from the group. The Kyiv team can win with a huge score but will Stock help them to advance?

Potential and teams’ situation:
At the first glance, this meeting is of a great importance. Stating that a tie will satisfy both sides is a big mistake. Of course, a tie would satisfy the players from the Britannia Stadium. But the fans from the Inonu Stadi have very different expectations for their players. "Kara Kartallar" must win this match to avoid the meeting with such teams as Valencia and FC Porto, not to mention Manchester City, in the further rounds of the tournament. As you know, the runner-ups will be added to the winners’ group and the teams that finished third in the Champions League. This confrontation between Besiktas and Stoke City is a big bet match.

Besiktas has to cope without Ricardo Quaresma as the Portuguese midfielder was injured in the match with Manisaspor. This is certainly bad news for the coach Carlos Carvalhal as the 28 year-old player was a key player in this team and thanks to him the Black Eagles occupy a high 3rd place in the Super League. In addition to him, the defender and forward Ersan Gulum and Bebe will not also play. The 13-time champion of Turkey has several players who the defenders of Stoke City have to pay attention to: the former German national team players Gilbert and Ernest, as well as the experienced Mehmet Aurelio, and Simao Sabrosa, Hugo Almeida and Philip Goloshko who are responsible for the attacks.

History of the meetings:
Stoke won the first match between the teams at the Britannia Stadium 2-1.

Tips and justifications:
This can be a very lucky week for the Stock: a victory over Tottenham in the Premier League match, a victory after a long-running Adam Vass’ court case in the CAS in Lausanne. All they need is the first place in Group E in the Europa League. This time of the year the weather in Turkey is rather cool (10 degrees Celsius), which can prevent the Besiktas players from winning. Besides, Ricardo Quaresm, the hosts’ team leader, will not play. We believe that Stock has a good chance of winning.

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