Galatasaray v Manchester United: Weak Red Devils side to lose in Turkey

With Manchester United already through to the knock-out stages Mike Norman believes a much weakened Red Devils will be at the mercy of 'must win' Galatasary tonight...

With top spot in Group H assured Manchester United travel to Turkey without a host of star names for tonight's clash with Galatasaray.

 

The Red Devils have certainly earned the right to field a weakened side against the Turkish champions, but I doubt anyone associated with SC Braga or CFR Cluj will be  pleased with Sir Alex Ferguson's selection policy.

 

For the record, United will be without no less than 10 senior players, including Rio Ferdinand, Wayne Rooney, and Robin van Persie, whilst relatively unknown  youngsters Sam Johnstone, Tom Thorpe, and Larnell Cole have all made Fergie's 21-man squad.

 

True, if he chooses, the United boss can still field a strong side that will include the likes of Rafael, Phil Jones, Michael Carrick, Tom Cleverley, Darren Fletcher,  Ashley Young, Javier Hernandez, and Danny Welbeck, but the feeling is Sir Alex wouldn't have brought so many youngsters to Istanbul without giving the majority of them  a run out at some point.

 

So from a betting perspective we'll assume that United will line-up pretty weak. Which begs the question, how good are the hosts?

 

Galatasaray are top of the Super Lig after 12 games, though Friday night's 1-3 home defeat to Karabukspor angered boss Fatih Terim with the assumption that his men had  one eye on tonight's glamour tie. Their home form has been generally strong however, with 13 points banked at the Telekom Arena from a possible 15.

 

But for Gala to get a result against United they will have to improve significantly on their two Champions League home games so far; a 0-2 loss to Braga was followed  by a disappointing 1-1 draw with Cluj. However, they will take great encouragement from the reverse leg at Old Trafford where Terim's men were desperately unlucky to  come away empty handed against a strong Man Utd line-up; the Turkish side hitting the woodwork on no less than three occasions in a 1-0 defeat.

 

 

Match Odds

 

Galatasaray will never get a better opportunity to beat United than the one that they've been presented with this evening. Second place in Group H is very much up for  grabs and the home side couldn't have wished to meet the three-time European Champions at a better time.

 

Terim will name a full strength starting XI with in-form striker Burak Yilmaz leading the attack. The Turkish international has scored six goals in his last six games  including a perfect hat-trick in his side's 3-1 win over Cluj recently. Against a make-shift and inexperienced United backline Yilmaz will fancy his chances of getting  on the scoresheet and leading his side to victory.

 

At around even money to back - 1.98 to be precise - Galatasaray look worth a wager. Given the circumstances leading up to the game the Turkish side look correctly priced to me, and if United line-up extremely weak then 1.98 will disappear in a flash.

 

 

Over/Under 2.5 Goals

 

It's certainly not an exact science, and I'll never claim that it has been a money spinner down the years (because it hasn't), but when assessing this market I ask  myself two questions. Can I see both teams scoring? And if the answer is no then I'll ask myself do I expect one side to score at least three goals?

 

If the answer to the second question is no then I'll look to back Under 2.5 Goals at 2.0 or better. It's available to back at 2.24 tonight so that has to be the bet. The game might end up being 4-3, but from how I expect the match to go then I believe I'm on the 'value' option.

 

 

Recommended Bets

Back Galatasaray to win @ 1.98

Back Under 2.5 Goals @ 2.24

Back Burak Yilmaz To Score anytime @ 2.5 or better

 

Bet HERE !

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