Basaksehir vs RFS prediction: EUROPE: Europa Conference League – Group Stage betting tips on match 2022-10-12 16:45.
Başakşehir saw their unbeaten start to the season (W11, D5) ended by Sivasspor (L 2-0) in the Süper Lig last weekend, but with control of their own destiny in the UEFA Europa Conference League (UECL), it’s not panic time yet. The Turkish side are at least three points ahead of everyone else in Group A and are the only side yet to concede a goal in this season’s competition, making them favourites to advance from the group.
Their impressive seasonal form has resulted in a nine-game unbeaten run in Europe (W6, D3) which is their longest such streak ever in UEFA competitions. Yet, Başakşehir were held to a goalless draw by ten-man Riga FS in the reverse fixture which was their first scoring blank in this tournament, but having scored a combined eight goals at home in this UECL campaign (W2, D2), this could be their best chance to get back to scoring ways.
RFS are the second Latvian club ever to reach a European group stage and will be looking to play spoilsports here as they aim to avoid finishing with the wooden spoon. They followed the draw in the reverse fixture with a 1-1 league stalemate last weekend, keeping them unbeaten across nine domestic matches (W6, D3) although Europe has proven to be a much tougher environment.
The visitors have won only two of their last nine UECL matches (D5, L2) but the number of draws in that run does highlight that they are rarely pushovers. It gets better on the road with RFS remaining unbeaten across their six away UECL games (W4, D2) which should create some hope in the away camp that they could pull off a surprise result.
Key battle: Bertrand Traoré has picked up a yellow card in each of his last two matches but also scored Başakşehir’s last home UECL goal. Pāvels Šteinbors will not be easy to get past though with the RFS goalkeeper making the highest number of saves (18) in the competition ahead of this round.
Hot stat: Seven of Başakşehir’s last eight UECL home goals have come during the second-half with five arriving beyond the 70th minute.