We’re almost one third into the Turkish Super Lig 2016/17 and it’s as tight as ever with Istanbul Basaksehir topping the table with 26 points, Besiktas being two points behind, while Galatasaray and Bursaspor share the third and fourth positions with 20 points each after 10 matches played.
Who will win it?
In a very interesting contest, it’s almost obvious the league will be tense throughout the season. While it’s very hard keeping consistency through the year and in different competitions, fatigue comes into play so it’s important to have a depth of quality and good work regime as well as tactics. Our obvious pick to win the league this season, for all the named aspects, is Istanbul Basaksehir.
Why?
Of course, we’ll back our claims with several clear and straightforward facts as to why we believe Istanbul Basaksehir can keep up and win the Turkish Super Lig. Firstly, they are already on an amazing streak so far where they won eight out of ten league matches against tricky opponents and held to two draws in the process, against Osmanlispor and Konyaspor.
The win streak
Basaksehir had a surprisingly good start to the season where they had a difficult schedule. Matchday 1 brought a difficult home match against Fenerbahce where they won with an early opener from Marcio Mossoró. They continued to win at Bursaspor, who currently stand fourth, and two more matches before the home draw to Osmalispor. After the second draw to Konyaspor at home, they timed the form with two wins before traveling away to Galatasaray. They scored two goals to get back from being behind and win the match at Türk Telekom Arena.
In-form players and the goal difference
Istanbul Basaksehir have scored 24 goals this season, the most goals scored in the season while also conceding as few as six goals. Again, there’s no team with fewer goals conceded in the league! The amazing goal difference of +18 is only followed by Besiktas’ +13, with 21 goals scored and 8 conceded.
There’s also a wide range of players in great form which is bound to provide consistency throughout the season. We already mentioned that defence works perfectly and Volkan Babacan five clean sheets, conceding only six goals. Mehmet Batdal, Marcio Mossoró, and Edin Visca scored four goals each while Pektemek, Under, and Napoleoni added six more combined.
The Opponents and European competitions
Finally, Istanbul Basaksehir already played a big part of their main title contenders including Galatasaray, Bursaspor, and Fenerbahce where they won in all three matches. On the other hand, both Galatasaray and Besiktas are yet to meet Fenerbahce and Bursaspor, while they shared the points in a 2-2 draw this year.
Basaksehir also has no burden or fatigue of European competitions, while Besiktas still has great chances in UEFA Champions League, and both Fenerbahce and Osmalispor are topping their groups in UEFA Europa League. The team thus definitely has more time to recuperate and think exclusively about the league and the Turkish cup matches.
