Marseille appear to be in crisis after three straight defeats and now face an intimidating atmosphere in Istanbul.
Besiktas have won all six home games this season and with Dusan Vlahovic in fine form, a home win is on the cards in Turkey.
Key Stats
- Besiktas have won their last 6 home games.
- Besiktas have won to nil in 5 of their last 6 home matches.
- Besiktas' Dusan Vlahovic has scored 4 goals in his last 2 matches.
- Marseille have lost their last 3 matches.
HTH
Besiktas have met Marseille twice, both teams winning at home in the 2007/08 Champions League group stage.
Perfect Home Record
Besiktas won their opening six games this season, all of them coming with a clean sheet. The run came to an end on the road after consecutive 1-0 defeats at Alanyaspor and Kauno Zalgiris.
Vincenzo Italiano’s side bounced back in a big way, Dusan Vlahovic hitting a hat-trick in a 6-2 victory over Corum. Vlahovic then scored the winning goal in an impressive 2-1 win at Fenerbahce.
The Serbian striker was not in the squad on Friday but it didn’t matter, Besiktas beating Erzurumspor 3-0 thanks to early goals from Emirhan Topçu and Leandro Trossard.
Marseille in Crisis
Marseille had some fortune in their opening encounter in Ligue 1, a 4-0 win against Strasbourg. It was 1-0 when the visitors were reduced to 10 men, Amine Gouiri scoring two goals.
Bruno Genesio’s side have now lost three straight games, starting with a 2-0 defeat at Monaco. That was followed by a 3-2 loss against Paris FC after conceding a late penalty.
The southern club are coming off a 1-0 defeat at Rennes which has raised questions about internal problems at the club.
Genesio appeared to send a message to the club hierarchy after the match: "I have the objectives in mind, it's not up to me to state them."
"We've had to do a lot of improvising so far. It's going to take time. Will we have it? I don't know. We can't ask the players to do things they're not used to doing overnight."
Predicted Lineups & Team News
Besiktas (4-1-4-1) Alexander Nübel; Amir Murillo, Emmanuel Agbadou, Emirhan Topcu, Kassoum Ouattara; Salih Ozcan; Václav Cerny, Junior Olaitan, Orkun Kökcu, Leandro Trossard; Dusan Vlahovic
Dusan Vlahovic is available after suspension and expected to replace Oh Hyun-gyu up front.
Marseille (4-2-3-1) Jeffrey de Lange; Timothy Weah, CJ Egan-Riley, Nayef Aguerd, Emerson Palmieri; Himad Abdelli, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg; Amine Harit, Angel Gomes, Igor Paixão; Amine Gouiri
Bruno Genesio will surely consider changes here but his options are limited. Midfielder Tochukwu Nnadi remains out with a knee injury.