Sports Mole previews Saturday’s Nations League clash between Turkey and Wales, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Wales travel to the Kadir Has Stadium in Kayseri to face Turkey in their penultimate League B Group 4 fixture in the UEFA Nations League on Saturday evening.
Neither nations could be separated when they last met in September as they played out a goalless stalemate in Cardiff on matchday one.
Match preview
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Since sharing the spoils with Wales in their opening Nations League match, Turkey have won three games in a row and have scored eight goals in the process, netting seven times across two victories over Iceland either side of a narrow 1-0 win against Montenegro.
The Crescent-Stars were seemingly on course to settle for a point away against Iceland in their most recent match last month, but an 88th-minute winner from Arda Guler was followed by a 95th-minute strike from Kerem Akturkoglu that sealed a 4-2 victory in Reykjavik.
Vincenzo Montella‘s side currently sit top of League B Group 4 with 10 points and they will secure promotion to League A as group winners, with a game to spare, if they beat Saturday’s opponents Wales, who sit two points further back in second.
Ranked 26th in the world by FIFA, Turkey will fancy their chances of success in front of their own fans as they have not lost any of their last seven home games in the Nations League dating back to October 2020, while they have won four and drawn one of their last five home fixtures in all competitions.
One of those victories was their last home encounter against Wales in June 2023 when they slayed the 10-man Dragons 2-0 in Euro 2024 qualifying, courtesy of second-half goals from Guler and Umut Nayir.
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Craig Bellamy is the first Wales manager in history to remain unbeaten in his opening four matches at the helm, with his Dragons’ side accumulating eight points from their first four Nations League fixtures (W2 D2).
Wales let a two-goal lead slip to draw 2-2 with Iceland last month, but they returned to winning ways just a few days later as thy beat Montenegro 1-0 on home soil thanks to a first-half penalty converted by Harry Wilson.
After suffering relegation from League A in the previous Nations League campaign, Wales are bidding to return to the top tier at the first time of asking and can boost their chances by beating Turkey on Saturday – a win would move them one point clear at the top of League B Group 4 with one game remaining.
Ranked 29th in the world by FIFA, Wales have won four of their previous 10 meetings with Turkey in all competitions. Their most recent was a 2-0 group-stage success at the delayed Euro 2020 tournament, while their only previous triumph in Turkey was back in 1981 when Carl Harris scored the only goal in a 1-0 win in World Cup qualifying.
The Dragons enter Saturday’s contest having only lost one of their last seven Nations League away games as a League B nation (W4 D2), but they have come out on top in only two of their last 12 matches on the road in all competitions.
Turkey Nations League form:
Turkey form (all competitions):
Wales Nations League form:
Wales form (all competitions):
Team News
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Turkey will be without defensive trio Ferdi Kadioglu, Caglar Soyuncu and Ozan Kabak due to injury, while Irfan Kahveci and Dogan Alemdar have also recently entered the treatment room.
Captain Hakan Calhanoglu is set to earn his 95th international cap and could be joined in centre-midfield by Orkun Kokcu, while Real Madrid’s Arda Guler operates in the number 10 role,
Kerem Akturkoglu is the joint-top goalscorer in the 2024-25 Nations League with four goals and the Benfica winger is expected to start on the left side of attack, linking up with Yunus Akgun and Baris Alper Yilmaz in the final third.
As for Wales, Kieffer Moore, Rabbi Matondo, Nathan Broadhead, Wes Burns and Owen Beck have all pulled out of Bellamy’s squad due to injury.
Aaron Ramsey and Oli Cooper also miss out as they continues to recover from respective hamstring and foot problem, so 75-cap Joe Allen could be joined in centre-midfield by one or two of Josh Sheehan, Jordan James, Charlie Savage, Charlie Crew or uncapped Luke Harris.
Harry Wilson has been a super-sub for Fulham in their last couple of games, scoring three goals, but he is poised to start for the Dragons this weekend and could be joined in attack by Brennan Johnson, Sorba Thomas and Mark Harris.
Turkey possible starting lineup:
Cakir; Celik, Demiral, Bardakci, Muldur; Calhanoglu, Kokcu; Akgun, Guler, Akturkoglu; B. Yilmaz
Wales possible starting lineup:
Ward; Roberts, Rodon, Cabango, Davies; Allen, Sheehan; Johnson, Wilson, Thomas; M. Harris
We say: Turkey 2-1 Wales
Both nations will back themselves to come away with a positive result from Saturday’s contest and they are aware of how important securing maximum points is in their quest to finish top of their group.
Another tight affair, like the reverse fixture, cannot be ruled out, but we can see the two teams scoring in this one and Turkey just edging it on home soil.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
