Besiktas face Crystal Palace in a league-phase encounter in the 2026-27 UEFA Europa League.
Victory could put Besiktas top of the table if results elsewhere go in their favour, whilst Palace can climb into the top eight with a win if results elsewhere swing in their favour.
Team News
Vaclav Cerny is a doubt for Besiktas after he suffered a muscle injury during their 2-1 Super Lig win over Kocaelispor.
Milot Rashica (hamstring) and Orkun Kokcu (foot) are ruled out.
Palace will welcome Axel Disasi back from a domestic suspension which saw him miss their 5-0 Premier League defeat at Brighton.
Takehiro Tomiyasu (calf), Ben Chilwell (unspecified) and Dean Henderson (ankle) face late fitness checks.
Chadi Riad is still absent with a knee injury.
When is Kick-Off?
Besiktas host Palace at Besiktas Stadium on Thursday 22 October at 10pm TRT (8pm BST), live on TNT Sports 2 in the UK.
Stat Attack
- This is Besiktas’ first-ever competitive meeting against Palace.
- Palace are making their first-ever competitive visit to Besiktas.
- Murillo has scored in both of Besiktas’ two league-phase matches in this season’s competition (W2), as they beat Marseille 4-1 at home then won 3-2 at Hoffenheim.
- Yeremy Pino has scored in both of Palace’s two league-phase matches in this season’s competition (W1, L1), as they beat Lech Poznan 4-0 at home then lost 3-2 at Lyon.
Prediction
Packed with firepower despite their lack of clean sheets in their first two league-phase fixtures, Besiktas will feel confident that they can get a result if they continue to play as well as they’ve done.
Palace meanwhile were a “disaster” at Brighton as Adam Wharton rightly said post match because their defence was lacklustre, whilst their attack wasn’t clinical enough which is a worry because they need to be on top form if want to win this tie.
I however just think that Besiktas have the momentum and firepower to beat Palace’s vulnerable defence unless Pierre Sage can sort his defence out quickly.
Prediction: Besiktas 3-1 Crystal Palace
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