Confidence is flowing through the veins of both sets of players right now, but with Sparta Prague only just returning to competitive action last weekend after a period of friendlies, the visitors may be at a slight disadvantage.
Coupled with the fact that Galatasaray often flaunted their offensive prowess in the Champions League, a Lions contingent brimming with talented attackers - some of whom boast plentiful European experience - should come good in a dominant first-leg display.
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Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Galatasaray win with a probability of 59.3%. A draw had a probability of 20.6% and a win for Sparta Prague had a probability of 20.13%.
The most likely scoreline for a Galatasaray win was 2-1 with a probability of 9.82%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (8.5%) and 1-0 (8.05%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (9.3%), while for a Sparta Prague win it was 1-2 (5.37%). The actual scoreline of 3-2 was predicted with a 4% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole and our data analysis both correctly predicted that Galatasaray would win this match.
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