TURKEY VS WALES
Turkey are set to face Wales in their second game of the 2020 UEFA European Championship at the Baku Olympic Stadium on Wednesday, after their humbling at the hands of Italy in Rome on Friday.
The Crescent Stars come into this game after losing 3-0 against the Azzurri after an uninspiring performance from the men in red saw them being played out of the park by the Italians.
Roma’da 90 dakika sona erdi. #BizimÇocuklar #EURO2020 #HereWeCame #TURITA pic.twitter.com/uq4aXEnstX
— Türkiye #BizimÇocuklar 🇹🇷 (@MilliTakimlar) June 11, 2021
They will now undertake a long journey from Rome to Baku, where they are set to see out their remaining group stage matches against Wales and Switzerland. Wales, meanwhile, opened their account with a point against Switzerland after Cardiff City forward Kieffer Moore secured them the draw in Baku on Saturday.
🏴 1-1 🇨🇭 SGÔR TERFYNOL
A rollercoaster of a second half! And breathe.#WAL | #EURO2020 | #TogetherStronger pic.twitter.com/c0HT8HPgea
— Wales 🏴 (@Cymru) June 12, 2021
With a rest of four days for Turkey and three days for Wales, it would not be a surprise if both the managers decide to change up things in order to provide ample amount of rest for their players and get them fully ready for the last group game and potentially the knockout stages.
TEAM NEWS
Although they went on to produce an uninspiring game for the Turkish fans, manager Senol Gunes will be happy that there were no injuries concerns after the match against Italy and is set to have a full squad of 26 players for the second game in a row.
Ozan Kabak might have a chance to feature in his first Euro game on Wednesday. (Image Courtesy: Turkish Super League / Website)
He might bring in some new faces into the starting line-up, mainly at central defence, with Ozan Kabak waiting for the golden opportunity.
Turkey Probable Starting Lineup: Gunok; Muldur, Kabak, Soyuncu, Meras; Yokuslu; Under, Tufan, Kahveci, Calhanoglu; Yilmaz
Similar to Turkey, Wales and their manager Robert Page will be happy with the fact that none of the players are facing any fitness issues and will be available to be called up whenever necessary.
Robert Page, manager of Wales. (Image Courtesy: BBC / Website)
With their final group game set to be played in Rome, Page is likely to give his star attackers some rest and the fringe players might get a chance to feature.
Wales Probable Starting Lineup: Ward; Williams, Mepham, Lockyer, Davies; Levitt; Wilson, Ampadu, Morrel, James; Roberts
GAME CHANGERS
Even though he did not score in the game against Italy, captain Burak Yilmaz remains the potential gamechanger for Turkey and was one of the few players who tried to do something for his nation in Italy’s penalty area on Friday but was not able to succeed.
Burak Yilmaz cut a frustrating figure while playing against Italy after the lack of service from his teammates. (Image Courtesy: AS / Website)
Gunes will also hope that his midfielders can perform better on Wednesday and provide the chances to Yilmaz as he has the capability to score for difficult positions, which he tried against the Azzurri, but to no avail.
For the Dragons, Gareth Bale still remains the trump card even if he starts from the bench. The Real Madrid superstar possesses skill and talent that no one else in the squad can match and history has seen how he can change things for Wales from near-impossible situations.
Gareth Bale will hope to open his account at Euro 2020 against Turkey, after blanking against Switzerland in the first game. (Image Courtesy: AS / Website)
Apart from Bale, Robert Page will hope that Daniel James plays as he did against Switzerland, where he was arguably the best player on the pitch in the 75 minutes that he featured in and looked visibly angry at his substitution.
PREDICTION
With both teams looking to open their win account, the game looks to be a thrilling one from the outset but there is also the possibility of it being a bore-fest.
Wales will take encouragement after seeing the Turkish defence fall apart in their previous game while the Turks will hope to revive things and get that first win or at least a point under their belt, hence, FootTheBall, says, Turkey 1-2 Wales.