Manchester Utd vs Galatasaray prediction: EUROPE: Champions League – Group Stage betting tips on match 2023-10-02 19:00.
Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has “no excuses” to explain the Red Devils’ worst start to a league campaign in 34 years. A 1-0 defeat at home to Crystal Palace was their fourth in seven Premier League outings (W3), while it was also their fifth in nine matches in all competitions (W4), a run that includes their 4-3 loss at Bayern Munich on matchday one in the UEFA Champions League (UCL).
Ten Hag must now get their European campaign back on track, but with five first-team defenders currently ruled out injured, it might not be so easy – especially when considering United have managed just one clean sheet in their last 13 UCL matches. An increasingly agitated home support will therefore need to be behind their side, but fortress Old Trafford has been breached far too easily of late, as after going unbeaten in 31 successive home matches, the Red Devils have now lost two of their last three on home soil (W1).
Visitors Galatasaray appear well placed to take advantage of a beleaguered United side considering they’re yet to lose in 14 competitive matches this season (W11, D3)! Okan Buruk’s men are making a habit of second-half comebacks, producing one to salvage a point against Copenhagen on matchday one in the UCL, while they earned all three after falling behind against MKE Ankaragucu at the weekend.
While Gala are unbeaten on the road since April (W8, D2), they’ve not won an away match in the UCL proper since March 2013 (D3, L14). Ending that drought now depends on improving a pretty miserable record when facing English opposition, as Galatasaray have won just three of 21 all-time meetings (D8, L10), a sequence that includes just one win in six against United (D3, L2).
Players to watch: United captain Bruno Fernandes netted twice the last time he faced Turkish opposition, both arriving before half-time in a 4-1 demolition of İstanbul Başakşehir. Wilfried Zaha scored his first goal in Galatasaray colours on Saturday, a perfect warm-up for his return to his old stomping ground, especially as he’s scored three in his last four games against the Red Devils.
Hot stat: Both sides have scored in just one of six H2H meetings.