Turkish giant Galatasaray is seeking to book a ticket to the next qualifying round in the Champions League on Wednesday, facing off against Lithuania’s Zalgiris Vilnius after playing out a 2-2 draw in the first leg.
Galatasaray heads out as a massive favorite and bookmaker William Hill has the odds at 1.44 for a home victory with at least three goals scored. The odds are at 2.10 for Galatasaray to win and four or more goals being scored in the match.
※ Current Odds Date & Time: August 1st, 4:30 P.M. (EST)
Zalgiris did well to avoid defeat on home turf last week, which should give the team some confidence ahead of the return leg, but putting in a similar performance in front of a fiery Turkish crowd promises to be very difficult. Last season, Galatasaray failed to win only five home games across all competitions.
Galatasaray made some big signings 12 months ago, which helped to end a four-year title drought in the Turkish Super League, and the club appears to be aiming even higher in 2023-24 after continuing to spend this summer. Cimbom has secured the services of some of its loanees from last season, including Argentine star Mauro Icardi, and the team has snapped up Premier League ace Wilfried Zaha and Angelino, who has been one of the top left-backs in the Bundesliga in recent seasons.
Unfortunately for the 23-time Turkish champion, the Zaha and Icardi deals happened too late for the pair to be available for the clashes versus Zalgiris, but there should still be plenty of quality in the squad to do a professional job in Wednesday’s match.
Zalgiris has become a dominant force in Lithuanian football, winning three consecutive league championships, and the club is slowly starting to make some noise in Europe as well. Last season, Zalgiris became the first Lithuanian club to qualify for the group stage of a UEFA competition when the team competed in the Conference League.
Lithuanian football reached a big milestone with Zalgiris’ success last season, but it must be noted that the team leans heavily on foreign players. In fact, all five goals Zalgiris scored in the Conference League group stage last season were registered by non-Lithuanian players. Goalkeeper Edvinas Gertmonas was the only Lithuanian native to earn regular playing time in Europe.
The Zalgiris team is spearheaded by Nigerian forward Mathias Oyewusi. He’s the top scorer in the Lithuanian top flight with 14 goals in 19 games and has also bagged four goals in continental qualifiers this summer. Oyewusi opened the scoring a week ago against Galatasaray and should be at the center of Zalgiris’ attacks again.
