Besiktas kick off their defence of the Super Lig against newly promoted Alanyaspor at the Vodafone Arena.
The Black Eagles are a weakened squad compared to the team that won the league. The Istanbul lost Gokhan Tore to West Ham on loan but more importantly Jose Sosa to AC Milan on a €7.5 million move and Mario Gomez decided not to return after the end of his loan deal with Fiorentina.
Between them Tore, Gomez and Sosa scored 43 goals and provided 19 assists for the Istanbul giants.
Besiktas did signed Marcelo from Barcelona and have managed to keep hold of star players Oguzhan Ozyakup and Atiba Hutchinson in midfield.
The Eagles also have Tolgay Arslan available after recovering from injury and Euro 2016 champion Ricardo Quaresma will almost certainly start.
There is no denying Besiktas have lost a lot of blood over the summer but they still have one of the most talented managers in the league Senol Gunes in charge and will be playing in front of a raucous 41,903 fans at the Vodafone Arena.
Alanyaspor have been thrown into the deep end in having to play their first game of the season against champions Besiktas and it is difficult seeing them pull off an upset tonight.
Prediction: Besiktas win
BEŞİKTAŞ – ALANYASPOR
STADIUM: Vodafone Arena
REFEREE: Barış Şimşek
KICK-OFF: 21:45 Local Time
BEŞİKTAŞ: Tolga, Beck, Marcelo, Tosic, Adriano, Atiba, Tolgay, Quaresma, Oğuzhan, Olcay, Cenk.
MANAGER: Şenol Güneş
ALANYASPOR: Haydar, Latifu, Abdoulaye, Badias, Berkan, Deniz, Sackey, Emre, Aissati, Camisas, Ayite.
MANAGER: Hüseyin Kalpar
SEE MORE:
Besiktas – 2016-17 season preview
