Celtic’s season is in danger of unraveling and Besiktas will be looking to pile on the Parkhead pain when they head to Glasgow on Europa League duty.
The Hoops crashed to a 2-0 loss at Falkirk on Sunday and that made it six defeats in 10 games for Martin O’Neill’s men.
The decision to let the 74-year-old stay at the helm after last season’s rescue mission as interim boss is now looking like a misstep from the Parkhead board.
Celtic have lost all three of their Europa League matches so far and they will need a big improvement to stand any chance of reaching the knockout stages.
Besiktas aren’t in great form themselves, with the Turkish giants winning just three of their last seven in all competitions.
But they’re unbeaten so far in the league phase of the Europa League, with two wins and a draw, so they will fancy their chances at Celtic Park.
How the bookies view it: Besiktas with the edge
With Celtic looking so vulnerable in Europe this season, Bet365 make them 21/10 outsiders for this one. Besiktas are 23/20 favourites and the draw pays 27/10.
Head to head: First-time foes
These sides have never faced off before and Celtic have only battled Turkish opposition twice in European competition. Those two games with Fenerbahce both ended level in the 2015-16 Europa League group stage,
Players to watch: Raising the Baur
Celtic’s summer recruitment has been hit and miss but German midfielder Mika Baur looks like a shrewd signing. He has scored twice in the Europa League and is 9/2 for another goal, while Bet365 price him at 5/4 for a shot on target.
Oh Hyeon-Gyu will have a point to prove for Besiktas as he goes up against his old club. The Korean is 8/5 to grab a goal on his return and has started in the last two Europa League games ahead of Dusan Vlahovic.
Probable line-ups
Celtic are still without Alistair Johnston and Yang Hyun-jun while O’Neill may freshen things up after such a poor weekend performance,
Umit Akdag is banned for Besiktas after seeing red in the draw with Crystal Palace while skipper Orkun Kokcu and Fabio Miretti are injured.
Celtic: Johnstone, Donovan, Murray, Scales, Tierney, McGregor, Baur, Nygren, Forrest, Duran, Hogh.
Besiktas: Nubel, Murillo, Agbadou, Topcu, Yılmaz, Ndidi, Ozcan, Olaitan, Cerny, Trossard, Oh.
Anything else catch the eye?
Celtic have continually come up short against decent opposition this season, losing to LASK, Fenerbahce, Benfica, Celta Vigo and Rangers. Three of those defeats came at Celtic Park so the Turks look good value for a win.
Celtic decided against strengthening in central defence this summer and it has backfired spectacularly.
They’ve conceded twice in three of their last four matches and over 1.5 Besiktas goals pays 4/5 at Bet365.
For longer odds, backing the Turks to score in both halves is priced at 7/4 by the same firm.
Hoops stopper Liam Scales can be rash in the tackle and the Irishman has amassed four yellows this term. He’s 2/1 to go into the book again.
GambleAware