Molde vs Galatasaray – Champions League Playoff: Probable Lineup & Preview

Galatasaray supporters celebrate after the football club was crowned champion of Turkey's top division for a record 22nd time on May 19, 2019 in Istanbul. - Galatasaray sealed their 22nd Turkish league title with a dramatic 2-1 win over nearest challengers Istanbul Basaksehir in a capital-city derby marred by violence. (Photo by Yasin AKGUL / AFP) (Photo credit should read YASIN AKGUL/AFP/Getty Images)

Galatasaray travel to Norway for the first leg of the Champions League play-off tie on Tuesday, July 26.

The match will be played at the Aker Stadion in Molde and will kick off at 22:00 CET.

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British referee Anthony Taylor has been appointed to officiate the match.

Galatasaray has a mixed record against Norwegian teams in European competition.

They have won two and lost two of their four matches against Norwegian opposition. However, both of their defeats came away from home.

The Yellow-Reds will be looking to get a positive result in the first leg in order to give themselves a good chance of progressing to the group stages of the Champions League.

The lineups for the match are still to be announced, but Galatasaray coach Okan Buruk is expected to make changes from the side that beat Göztepe in the Süper Lig on Saturday.

Some of the players who could be in line to start include Fernando Muslera, Marcao, Victor Nelsson, Kerem Aktürkoğlu and Mauro Icardi.

Icardi was the star of the show on the weekend scoring a brace and already has three goals in four games this term.

The Lions have already been through two rounds in the Champions League qualifiers so are well settled and have built up some experience and match readiness.

Galatasaray have built a powerful team over the summer bringing in Icardi, Hakim Ziyech, Tete and Wilfried Zaha to an already strong side that won the Super Lig title.

Zaha will be out for the first leg, Ziyech is unlikely to start as he only joined a few days ago. Lucas Torreira meanwhile, is out injured.

New signing Tete has been added to the match day squad and could start today.

Molde, meanwhile, are currently top of the Norwegian Eliteserien. They are unbeaten in their last five matches and will be confident of causing an upset against Galatasaray.

The match is sure to be a close contest, and it will be interesting to see who comes out on top.

I think Galatasaray do have the edge in the clash and have a lot riding on this game.

Prediction: Galatasaray Draw no Bet

Molde – Galatasaray Probable Lineups

Molde: Karlstrom, Tiedemann, Hagelskjaer, Haugen, Linnes (Knudtzon), Eikrem, Mannsverk, Grodem, Lovik, Kitolano, Brynhildsen

Galatasaray: Muslera, Boey, Nelsson, Abdülkerim, Angelino, Berkan, Oliveira, Barış, Mertens, Kerem, Icardi