As expected, the extremely heated atmosphere at Rams Park, Galatasaray’s stadium, made the difference in the first leg. Turkey won the first round of this Nations League play-off (3-1), taking advantage of home field advantage and putting themselves in a strong position to be promoted to League A. This is because in Budapest, in the return match, Hungary will have to win by at least three goals to beat the team led by Vincenzo Montella, who were more cynical and ruthless in the first 90 minutes, and to avoid relegation to League B.
The Hungarians, unlike Turkey, were unable to capitalize on the goal-scoring opportunities they created and in the final stages of the game, with the match evenly balanced, they conceded two goals in the space of just four minutes (Akturkoglu and Kahveci), demonstrating that they hadn’t completely solved the defensive problems that had already characterized Marco Rossi’s national team in the group stage last fall (9 goals conceded in total in away games against Germany and Holland). Montella, on the other hand, can be satisfied with his team’s performance.
Turkey are proving to be a team that is improving in every respect, proving that reaching the quarter finals at the European Championship in Germany was not just a fluke. In their last 7 matches, Calhanoglu and his team-mates have only lost to Montenegro, a defeat that last November cost them being overtaken by Wales and missing out on direct promotion to League A. The former Fiorentina and Milan coach has two important players available for the match at the Puskas Arena: Demiral and Arda Guler, who were suspended in the first leg.
Odds comparison
The “1X” sign is quoted at 1.40 on Goldbet, Lottomatica and Snai. The “Gol” sign is quoted at 1.75 on Goldbet, Lottomatica and Snai.
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The prediction
Hungary should be able to avoid defeat in front of their home crowd, but it’s frankly unlikely that the Magyars will get back into the game by beating Turkey by a significant margin. Turkey, despite taking risks on Thursday, have shown that they have something more. In Budapest, however, there should be no shortage of goals.
The probable line-ups for Hungary-Turkey
UNGHERIA (4-2-3-1): Gunok; Muldur, Akaydin, Bardakci, Elmali; Calhanoglu, Kokçu; Akgun, Yilmaz, Yildiz; Akturkoglu.
TURKEY (3-4-2-1): Gulacsi; Fiola, Orban, Dardai; Nego, Nikitscher, Schafer, Kerkez; Szoboszlai, Sallai; Varga.
POSSIBLE RESULT: 1-1