Turkey has made a key change to their starting lineup for their crucial Euro 2024 group stage decider against Czech Republic tonight. Young star Arda Guler returns to the attack after missing significant time in the previous match due to an injury.
Guler, who impressed with a wonder goal in Turkey’s opening win over Georgia, was limited to a late substitute appearance against Portugal due to fitness concerns. However, manager Vincenzo Montella confirmed Guler has recovered sufficiently and will be a key part of the attack against the Czechs.
READ: Who is Arda Guler? The 18-year-old ‘Turkish Messi’ Wanted by Europe’s Biggest Clubs
“Arda wasn’t fully fit for the last match,” Montella explained. “He couldn’t play more than 30 minutes without risking further injury. While I hesitated to bring him on at all, good players deserve to play, and that’s my philosophy.”
Yunus Akgun drops out of the starting eleven to make way for Guler’s return. The other notable change sees Samet Akaydin retain his starting spot in defense despite a worrying own goal in the Portugal match.
Akaydin had been a doubt due to a separate injury but has overcome it to feature. Merih Demiral replaces the suspended Abdulkerim Bardakci to complete the defensive line.
Meanwhile, Czech Republic faces the challenge of replacing their star striker Patrik Schick, who suffered a calf injury in their opening draw against Georgia. Mojmir Chytil will lead the line for the Czechs in Schick’s absence.
A point in tonight’s clash would be enough for Turkey to secure a place in the knockout stages of a major tournament for the first time since 2008.
Confirmed Starting Lineups
Czech Republic XI: Stanek; Holes, Hranac, Krejci, Coufal; Soucek, Provod, D. Jurasek; Barak, Hlozek, Chytil
Subs: Zima, Vitik, Sevcik, Schick, Kuchta, Doudera, Kovar, Cerny, Chory, Lingr, Cerv, Jaros, Vlcek, Sulc, M. Jurasek
Turkey XI: Gunok; Muldur, Demiral, Akaydin, Kadioglu; Calhanoglu, Ozcan; Guler, Yuksek, Yildiz; Yilmaz
Subs: Celik, Yokuslu, Kokcu, Akturkoglu, Tosun, Yazici, Bayindir, Kaplan, Kahveci, Ayhan, Cakir, Kilicsoy, Akgun, YildirimT