Süper Lig, Friday, 09.08.2024 at 20:00
It wasn’t a good season, not a very good one, not an excellent one – it was the perfect one! Galatasaray open the new round in the Süper Lig on Friday and it seems almost impossible to repeat this season.
Of course, the champions are allowed to open at home and are consequently the heavy favorites. But beware: the Supercup was clear! In my Galatasaray Hatayspor betting tip, I’ll go into more detail and also reveal why I’m backing goals from both teams
Was it particularly fun to analyze Galatasaray last season or was it rather boring? Admittedly, sometimes it was a mixture of both.
The Lions picked up a sensational 102 points, scored 92 goals and conceded just 26, which was actually incredible: Fenerbahce were only three points behind! The crazy duel electrified the soccer world, the competition didn’t even want to look at it anymore
After the 2022/23 season, which was the worst in the club’s history, the Turkish record champions struck back in incredible style. The problem is that there is no way they can do it a second time.
Tete has left the team, but it should be possible to compensate for this loss. Gabriel Sara from Norwich cost the Lions an impressive 18 million euros, while Elias Jelert was also on the shopping list for nine million euros
Hakiem Ziyech has been signed permanently after his contract with Chelsea expired, and Michy Batsuhayi has joined from arch-rivals Fenerbahce. Not a bad mix, so you would think that nothing would stand in the way of a successful start to the season.
That might be the case in the Süper Lig, but Gala have already played one match: The one in the Super Cup against cup winners Besiktas. Galatasaray was the favorite, I had also seen the yellow-red team ahead
But then everything that could possibly go wrong went wrong. Not even 60 seconds had been played when the first goal hit the back of the net. 0:5 was the final score, with two more goals in stoppage time.
Had this defeat perhaps already been foreshadowed in the preparations? There was not only the 0:2 against Parma, but also the crazy 2:5 against Fortuna Düsseldorf
Together with the defeat against Besiktas, that doesn’t reflect particularly well on the defense, which was so strong last season and hardly conceded anything.
The fact that the new season now opens against Hatayspor could be an advantage. 1:0, 4:0, 2:1, 3:0 and 2:0, all home games against the upcoming rivals so far have been won, with a total of just one goal conceded
The fact that four of the five matches have been lost away from home should not be quite so interesting in view of the home game on Friday. A look at our bookmakers reveals that nobody is actually expecting a surprise.
At Bet-at-home, the Lions are also ahead with an average odds of 1.22 to 10.25, and anyone who wants to redeem the Bet-at-home voucher here could win twice over.
Admittedly, a bet on the visitors would be very optimistic. Hatayspor finished last season in 15th place and fought until the last matchday to stay in the league
Away wins? A measly two, plus 15 goals in 19 games! So it must have been no cause for celebration when it became clear that 2024/25 would start with points away from home.
Five draws and three wins? The Dark Reds actually got off to a really good start a year ago, and this cushion also saved them from relegation to the 2nd division in the end.
The total market value of the squad is less than 20 million euros, so of course they can’t compete with the Turkish record champions. Jonathan Okoronko was brought in from Krasnodar as a new striker, but he will still have to prove himself
I think it’s almost impossible that Galatasaray will have a similarly strong season as in 2023/24. Of course, the defending champions are among the big favorites to win the title, and the 5-0 defeat to Besiktas didn’t change that.
This defeat left me with a lot of question marks; defensively, the team doesn’t seem to be well-rehearsed yet. Hatayspor are considered weak away from home, but could take advantage of the fact that the Lions are still lacking rhythm.
Of course, I favor Gala due to their individual class, but I don’t believe that the visitors will be completely without a chance. The bottom line is the following tip:
Both teams score!
