Fenerbahçe host Galatasaray for the biggest intercontinental derby in the world

The funny thing about the Turkish capital of Istanbul is that it is one of a few transcontinental cities, spanning across both Europe and Asia. With Galatasaray coming from the European section and Fenerbahce from the Asian section, the name The Intercontinental Derby was given to the matches between these two powerhouses in Turkish football. With both cultural, social and regional differences fuelling the sporting rivalry, the scene is set for drama and action.

There's local pride at stake here, as these teams are practically neighbours. Expect lots of passion from both players and supporters.

Galatasaray could be less fresh than the hosts in this fixture, as they played a Super Lig game only four sleeps ago.

Fenerbahçe form and stats

Fenerbahçe have performed here at Ülker Stadyumu Fenerbahçe Şükrü Saracoğlu Spor Kompleksi this season with 7 wins from 9 Super Lig matches. Some points have been lost, as they have drawn 1 game and lost 1.

Fenerbahçe enjoyed a nice away win last time out, playing at Antalyaspor's place. The match ended 2-1 with Batshuayi (2) scoring. Fenerbahçe's victory against Antalyaspor could easily have been with a bigger margin than 2-1 as they hit the posts three times. Batshuayi, who usually features in attack, was the top performer for the side in that game, scoring a rating of 7.71 (out of 10). Batshuayi scored two goals and hit one key pass.

The bookmakers consider this a fairly even contest. One could say only the home advantage separates the teams. It could be relevant to look at how Fenerbahçe have performed in matches similar to this (as small favourites). Our database has found 4 matches with the results: Won 0, drawn 2 and lost 2.

Fenerbahçe are an "over 2,5 goals" team alone here at Ülker Stadyumu Fenerbahçe Şükrü Saracoğlu Spor Kompleksi in their league games, having scored an impressive 26 goals in 9 matches. 11 goals have been conceded.

Galatasaray form and stats

The away team have been very comfortable on their travels so far, racking up 6 wins, 2 draws and only 1 loss in the Super Lig. Galatasaray have been producing wins at home as well, producing a total of six victories in a row regardless of arena.

Galatasaray won their last game, 2-1 versus Ankaragücü played at home. It's odd; the match score 2-1 has occurred three games in a row! Midfielder Kutlu was the best performer of that match, with a rating of 8.3. Kutlu hit one key pass.

So, this is expected to be a close game, an even contest. Looking at earlier matches with Galatasaray playing away and similar expectations, we found 6 relevant matches. Results were 1 Galatasaray win, 3 draws and 2 defeats.

Goal-happy betting people should observe that 10 of this team's 12 most recent league fixtures have ended with three goals or more.

Galatasaray are not goal shy away from home in the league, finding the net 17 times in 9 away games so far. It's worth mentioning that 11 of these goals has been scored in their last three away matches. Galatasaray are defending well in their away games, having conceded only 5 times in 9 matches. For more goal statistics, check out the Statistics tab above.

Head 2 Head

Fenerbahçe-Galatasaray H2H statistics last ten meetings regardless of arena: Fenerbahçe two wins, Galatasaray two wins, six draws. three of these ten matches had three or more goals (over 2,5). The matches between these clubs have had a tendency to be rough and physical, having seen 6 red cards from the last ten encounters.

Top Goalscorers

E. Valencia Lastra 13 goals

M. Batshuayi Tunga 8 goals

B. Gomis 7 goals

Fenerbahçe missing players

Galatasaray missing players