Istanbul Basaksehir vs Hearts
UEFA Europa League Conference, KO: 15:30 Nov 3, 2022, Fatih Terim Stadium
HEARTS will close the door on an absolutely humiliating Scottish representation in Europe this season in Istanbul on Thursday…and they will want to avoid another beating from Basaksehir.
Celtic, Rangers and Hearts have all suffered various degrees of suffering on what has been a horrific European campaign for Scottish football…and that's before we even think about Dundee United's 7-0 annihilation in the Netherlands and Motherwell losing home and away to Sligo Rovers.
Hearts are already out of the Europa Conference League with one game left, but the bad news for them is their opponents must win tonight to stop Fiorentina from catching them at the top, which means an automatic Last 16 place and avoiding a play-off against a Europa League third-placed team.
Emre Belozoglu's side have already thumped Hearts at Tynecastle and have vowed to go all out to complete the double. They are in second place in the Turkish League and bounced back after defeats at Fiorentina and Fenerbahce to beat Giresunspor at the weekend.
Hearts had a hard-fought 2-1 win at Ross County, but are still bedevilled by injuries. The likes of Craig Halkett, Stephen Kingsley, Gary Mackay-Steven, Liam Boyce are out and there are doubts over the likes of Peter Haring, Andy Halliday, Cammy Devlin and Stephen Humphrys.
How the bookies view it
Basaksehir are clear favourites here at 3/10 with bet365. It's perhaps surprising they aren't even shorter than that.
Hearts are 9/1 withUniBet and the draw is 9/2 with Paddy Power.
Recent head to heads
There were plenty of punters who took advantage of generous odds to lump on the Turks in Edinburgh when the sides met in September and they duly obliged with a bloodless 4-0 win.
Players to watch
It's not often we flag up Burundian internationals, but Youssouf Ndayishimiye scored at Tynecastle and has also scored three goals in his last three games. He is 6/1 with bet365 to score.
Lawrence Shankland has scored five goals in his last three games and he is 7/2 with William Hill to net in Istanbul.
Anything else catch the eye?
Back Basaksehir for a battering on the banks of the Bosporus
The pressure is off for Hearts, but they were taken apart by the Turks in Gorgie and it's very hard to fancy them even without the multitude of injuries they are carrying.
The hosts will want to put this to bed as early as they can and the call is Basaksehir to win half time and full time at a surprisingly acceptable 20/23 with Boylesports.
Hearts will want to avoid further humiliation, but this is a quality team they are playing in their own backyard and Paddy Power's 12/5 for the hosts -2 on the handicap is begging to be backed too.
This UEFA Europa League Conference match between Istanbul Basaksehir and Hearts will be played on Nov 3, 2022 and kick off at 15:30. Check below for our tipsters best Istanbul Basaksehir vs Hearts prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
Whats the meaning of half time full time?