Galatasaray welcomes Istanbul in a small-city derby and will definitely want to show who is the "boss" in the biggest Turkish city. They needed to score a late goal to eliminate a 1st division team in the cup, veteran striker Bafetimbi Gomis scored only goal. They aim at not losing any points until the city derby with Fenerbahce. Galatasaray offered a much better performance, considering the offensive productivity and the defensive stats, but they needed to score a late winning goal with Gomis. Everything could be easier as Seferovis missed a penalty kick in the first half. Coach Buruk fielded a rotated lineup, but he needed to put his heavy guns in the second half. Before the World Cup break, they humiliated the city rivals Basaksehir with a historical victory in order to enjoy their 3rd league victory in a row. Kerem Akturkoglu was absolutely the man of the match with his hat trick. Now, they are only 3 points away from the top of the league and they aim at collecting every possible point until the city derby against Fenerbahce. Galata will play without Fernando Muslera and Mauro Icardi, but with Bafetimbi Gomis and Haris Seferovic, they have more than enough firepower. As for the guests, things are not going well for them in the league as they have failed to get any points in the last 6 fixtures. There is great pressure on the team and the coach who arrived at the team three fixtures ago. Following the poor losing run, only one point separates them from the bottom place. Coach Fatih Tekke's team failed to fight back in the first half on the road against Fenerbahce and ended their Turkish Cup campaign at the 5th round. Although the coach fielded a strong line up, they failed to cope with the hosts. This is a big difference in the quality of the teams, Galatasaray invested a lot of money this season to win the title and when we look at their team I think they are the first favorites to win. The guests will certainly try to defend themselves until the last moment, but against this kind of Galata team, I don't think they have any chance. The odds are falling on the home team, so you should hurry and take the -1.5 Asian handicap. I expect dominance and a routine victory for Galatasaray with 2-0 or 3-0.
