Friday, starting at 19:45, Albania – Turkey will play in round 1 of the EURO 2020 preliminaries.
The two representatives have not fought since 2017, when the friendly match in Turkey ended with the victory of Albania, score 3-2.
Italian Christian Panucci has built a very working and hard-to-beat Albania. The Albanians have called five Italian players now, whom Panucci knows well for. Even if there can be accidents, such as Scotland, 0-4, or Ukraine, 1-4, Albania remains an interesting team. In the last home game, the hosts defeated Tara Galilor, score 1-0, with Gareth Bale on the field in the second half. Thanks to the only success in the League of Nations, 1-0 with Israel, Albania qualifies in Division B for the next edition.
The Turks dismissed Mircea Lucescu in February, announcing him as successor to veteran Senol Gunes. Besiktas’s coach will start full-time national work just from June 1, but he will also prepare the matches that the Turks will play this spring. In a rather young team, the legendary Emre Belozoglu, 38, now at the Turkish leader Istanbul Basaksehir, also took part. Turkey’s representation relies heavily on the perception of Burak Yilmaz and Cenk Tosun, the only ones in the batch with double digits.
Gunes’s “tiki-taka” style can offer an attractive match in Albania, which will take the “out of the box” hosts. It is very probable a draw, but one with goals.
PREDICTION: Both teams to score / NO @ 1,68
