Jose Mourinho's Fenerbahce welcome Anderlecht to the Sukru Saracoglu Stadium in the Europa League playoff round on Thursday evening.
The Turkish giants crept into the top 24 by the skin of their teeth on matchday eight, and must improve if they are to reach the last 16.
Match preview
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To suggest that a team who are unbeaten in 12 games, and have won eight of their last 10 at home are playing slightly below par would be bizarre in most circumstances, but it could be attributed to Fenerbahce at the moment.
Given the investment in the squad, and the legendary figure they have in the dugout, success domestically is expected, but in Europe, Fener have been nowhere near good enough.
As one of the clubs expected to challenge for the top eight, Fener only just about made the playoffs, finishing the league phase in 24th - the final unseeded playoff spot.
Fenerbahce finished level on points with Elfsborg and Braga, but pipped them to 24th on goal difference, after drawing 2-2 with Midtjylland on matchday eight.
That extended their winless run in Europe to three matches, after taking just one point from home matches against Athletic Bilbao and Lyon, but form has seen an uplift domestically since their trip to Denmark.
Three straight wins over Rizespor, Erzurumspor and Alanyaspor, scoring 10 goals in the process, have kept them in the title race, and saw them advance in the Turkish Cup, but this clash with Anderlecht will be significantly more important in the course of their season.
Having lost four of their last six first legs in European ties, Mourinho will hope to tap into his experience in Europe to revert that run and put them in the driving seat ahead of the second leg.
These two sides met here in this competition back in 2018, with Fener winning 2-0, and that means Anderlecht are still waiting for their first goal away to their upcoming hosts ahead of their fourth visit.
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The better form on the continent lies with the Belgians though, who finished four points and 14 places above Fener in the league phase, largely thanks to a sensational start that saw them take 14 points from their first six games.
David Hubert's side did end up losing their last two, away to Viktoria Plzen (0-2) and at home to Hoffenheim (3-4), meaning they must now go through the playoffs to reach the last 16, but they should take great heart from their performances on the road during the league phase.
The defeat in Czechia was the only one they suffered, taking seven points from their other three trips across the continent, and Hubert's men come into this clash on the back of a good week, both in the cup and in the league.
Anderlecht reached the Belgian Cup final last midweek, beating Antwerp 3-2 on aggregate, and they defeated the same opponents 2-0 in the league a few days later, but they are only playing for the European places now, sitting 15 points behind leaders Genk.
Team News
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Fenerbahce were busy in the January window, and added some genuine quality in the form of Anderson Talisca and Milan Skriniar, who have both been added to their Europa League squad alongside Juventus loanee Filip Kostic.
Only being able to make three alterations to your Europa League squad means there is no place for other January recruits though, such as Diego Carlos and Ognjen Mimovic, as well as the in-form Oguz Aydin.
Sofyan Amrabat and Bright Osayi-Samuel are back from European bans, while Youssef En-Nesyri will also return after missing the weekend win over Alanyaspor with suspension, and he is one shy of equalling the club record number of goals in one European season (five), and he will fancy his chances of reaching that mark here, considering he has scored 14 in his last 11 games.
Mourinho is without a number of defensive options heading into this one, including goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic, who is sidelined alongside Rodrigo Becao, Jayden Oosterwolde, Alexander Djiku, Mert Muldur and Caglar Soyuncu, after the latter was forced off inside 10 minutes at the weekend.
Anderlecht are also without one of their key defenders, as Jan Vertonghen remains sidelined with a long-term ankle injury, but Moussa N'Diaye will return after being suspended for the clash with Antwerp at the weekend.
Sam Edozie has been absent since mid-January with a muscular problem, but Kasper Dolberg made his first start in a month and netted both of the goals in that success against Antwerp.
Dolberg's saw two of his Danish compatriots leave in January though, as Anders Dreyer and Zanka moved to MLS, but the club have added regular starters Adryelson, Cesar Huerta and Lucas Hey to their Europa League squad.
Fenerbahce possible starting lineup:
Egribayrat; Osayi-Samuel, Skriniar, Amrabat, Kostic; Fred, Szymanski; Talisca, Tadic, Saint-Maximin; En-Nesyri
Anderlecht possible starting lineup:
Coosemans; Sardella, Hey, Adryelson, Augustinsson; Verschaeren, Dendoncker, Stroeykens; Hazard, Dolberg, Huerta
We say: Fenerbahce 2-0 Anderlecht
Fenerbahce know they can do much better than what they showed in the league phase, and after some eye-catching signings in January, Mourinho's men should still be considered as one of the favourites if they can navigate this tie successfully.
Anderlecht's league phase campaign unravelled right at the business end when they really should have sealed a direct spot in the last 16, and this is a very tough assignment for the visitors, who could face an uphill task when they take the Turks back to Belgium next week.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Andrew Delaney
