PSV Eindhoven will hope to claim the advantage when they host Galatasaray in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League second round qualifier at Phillips Stadion. The Dutch side often do their best work at home and given their record against Galatasaray, should come out on top here.
PSV were given a bye in the previous round of the Champions League and are making their first appearance in the competition. They warmed up for the visit of Galatasaray with a 1-0 friendly victory over PAOK with Noni Madueke getting the only goal.
The Dutch giants are making a first return to the Champions since falling to Basel in the qualifying stage during the 2019/20 season. They have been in good form lately and are unbeaten in 11 matches, stretching back to the final weeks of last season.
Roger Schmidt's men are known for their attacking style of play and often score plenty of goals in their matches. Among their recent results at Phillips Stadion is a 6-2 victory over Belgian side RWDM while they also beat PEC Zwolle 4-2 in their final home fixture in the Eredivisie last season.
Galatasaray are also getting their first taste of action in this season’s Champions League having not featured in the previous round. Their last outing was a 4-2 victory over Kasimpasa in a club friendly with Ogulcan Caglayan getting one of the goals.
The Turks have also not featured in the Champions League since 2019, although they reached the group stage in that edition. They finished bottom in their group, suffering a 5-0 defeat to PSG in their final group fixture and stretching their winless run in the competition 11 matches.
Manager Fatih Terim favours an attacking style of play with his team often scoring lots of goals. However, they are usually let down by a shaky defence that has failed to keep a clean sheet in their last six matches.
How the bookies view it
The bookies have installed PSV as favourites with a home win priced at 4/5 by BetVictor. A victory for Galatasaray is valued at 7/2 by the same firm while a draw is set at odds of 35/12 by Vbet.
PSV have a good record at Phillips Stadion and I am leaning towards a home win here.
Head to head
PSV have a 4-1 advantage from five previous matches against Galatasaray. The most recent meeting was a 3-1 victory for the Dutch side in a friendly back in 2018.
Players to watch
Winger Noni Madueke is one of the most talked about youngsters in Europe at the moment and is already showing his quality with three goals in his last two matches. PSV have more quality in attack with Erin Zahavi, Mario Gotze and Yorbe Vertessen and can score over 1.5 goals at 19/20 with Red Zone.
Galatasaray can also hold their own in attack with striker Ogulcan Caglayan scoring twice in his last three matches. Midfielder Aytac Kara has also found the net three times in his last two matches and both men can combine to produce over 1.5 goals for the Turks at 5/2 with Betfred.
Anything else catch the eye?
Given the quality in both attacks, a flutter in the goals market could provide some rewards. Over 3.5 goals is priced at 12/5 by BetVictor, over 2.5 goals is valued at 19/20 by Sport Nation, who are also offering 19/20 on both teams to score.
PSV are likely to score in both halves at 2/1 with William Hill while both teams could be backed to score in the second half at 5/2 with Skybet.
This UEFA Champions League match between PSV Eindhoven and Galatasaray will be played on Jul 21, 2021 and kick off at 20:00. Check below for our tipsters best PSV Eindhoven vs Galatasaray prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
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