Preview:Besiktas vs Eyupspor - prediction, team news, lineups

Besiktas will host Eyupspor at Tupras Stadium on Sunday in what will be their first outing of the 2025-26 Turkish Super Lig season.

The Black Eagles saw their opening-day fixture against Kayserispor postponed due to their European commitments.

Match preview

While many league rivals kicked off their domestic campaigns last week, Besiktas have already been battle-tested in continental competition.

Their Europa League journey ended abruptly with a 6-2 aggregate defeat to Shakhtar Donetsk, but they quickly regrouped in the Europa Conference League, comfortably dispatching St Patrick’s Athletic 7-3 on aggregate after back-to-back wins.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side will aim to carry that momentum into their league opener, drawing confidence from a perfect head-to-head record against Eyupspor.

The Black Eagles won both league meetings last term, and also claimed a 4-0 Turkish Cup victory in January 2024.

Eyupspor, fresh from their debut top-flight season in 2024-25, impressed for long spells before fading late on to finish sixth, just one point shy of European qualification.

Over the summer, they parted ways with Arda Turan, who departed for Shakhtar Donetsk, appointing Selcuk Sahin in his first senior managerial role.

Sahin’s debut could not have gone worse, as his side slumped to a 4-1 home defeat against Konyaspor last weekend, conceding three goals in the first half.

Facing Besiktas away so early in the campaign presents another stern test and the visitors will need to tighten up defensively to avoid another heavy setback.

Besiktas form (all competitions):

Eyupspor Turkish Super Lig form:

Eyupspor form (all competitions):

Team News

Besiktas remain without former Liverpool and Arsenal midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who continues his recovery from a cruciate ligament injury.

Loan arrival Tammy Abraham has been in scintillating form, netting five goals in four matches, including a hat-trick against Viking.

For Eyupspor, Halil Akbunar found the net from the bench last time out, but the main attacking burden will once again fall on Mame Thiam.

New signings Serdar Gurler, Kerem Demirbay, and Talha Ulvan all started last weekend and should keep their places.

Besiktas possible starting lineup:

Gunok; Svensson, Gabriel, Uduokhai, Jurasek; Tiknaz, Kokcu; Rashica, Rafa Silva, Joao Mario; Abraham

Eyupspor possible starting lineup:

Ozer; Mujakic, Claro, Yalcin, Ulvan; Akbaba, Demirbay, Gurler, Kabasakal; Thiam, Dragus

We say: Besiktas 2-0 Eyupspor

Besiktas go into this clash as firm favourites, buoyed by an unbeaten run, winning their last three games, and having beaten Eyupspor in every previous meeting.

Eyupspor, still adjusting under new management, are vulnerable and with the home team’s clinical edge and momentum, they look poised to claim a comfortable victory, probably keeping a clean sheet and extending their dominance over the Istanbul newcomers.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.