The Champions League preliminaries take us to the Netherlands, where Feyenoord hosts José Mourinho’s Fenerbahce. It is a high-level match between two strong and organized teams, but unfortunately one of them will be forced to say goodbye to the Champions League early and fall back on the Europa League. Feyenoord is a young, proactive, attack-minded team with a fast, ground-based game. Mourinho’s Fenerbahce, on the other hand, adopts a more cautious style: compact defense and quick counterattacks.
This is the most likely scenario for the match: Feyenoord will keep possession, dictate the pace and attack, while the Turks will remain organized at the back, waiting for opportunities on the counterattack. Previous encounters are also worth considering: the Special One is not very popular in these parts, after snatching the Conference League from the Dutch side during his time at Roma and eliminating them from the Europa League the following year, not without controversy. Mourinho’s teams are known for their physical play and tactical fouls, especially away from home and in difficult matches. Fenerbahce will be aggressive, ready to break Feyenoord’s rhythm with tough tackles. Just look at the names of the midfielders and their yellow card statistics, see Fred and Amrabat. For this reason, the bet “Fenerbahce more cards than Feyenoord,” offered at 1.80 on Bet365, is worth considering. Considering the style of the two teams and the possible course of the match, it could be a valuable bet. Alternatively, there is also over 2.5 cards for Fenerbahce at 1.83, the same odds for over 4.5 cards.
Probable line-ups for Feyenoord-Fenerbahce
FEYENOORD (4-2-3-1): Wellenreuhther; Lotomba, Watanabe, Kraaijeveld, Bos; Timber, Hwang; Moussa, Steijn, Sauer; Ueda.
FENERBAHCE (4-2-3-1):
Egribayat; Muldur, Akcicek, Skriniar, Brown; Fred, Amrabat; Kahveci, Szymanski, Aydin; Duran.