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Turkey Fantasy — Tips for Gameweek 20
Beşiktaş and Fenerbahçe continue to split the lead of the Süper Lig, but are they the best short-term options for fantasy managers? Find out inside!
Below you’ll find the crème de la crème of this week’s fantasy studs, provided to you by the masterminds behind Fantezi Futbol Türkiye.
Flash Players
Demba Ba (İstanbul Başakşehir, Forward)
Although he seems to be at his career-end years, Demba Ba scored 13 goals and made 4 assists last season with Başakşehir and played an important role for winning the title. However, he couldn’t make a good start for this season like his team. Although he has such an impressive stat that 3 shots per game, he has only scored 2 goals so far this season. He seems to be a regular starting eleven player for recent weeks. Başakşehir is close to win Kayserispor game and since Visca is currently injured, Demba Ba is expected to be the first option for penalty-kicks. So, we recommend him as one of the top picks of the week.
Key Stats (per game): Shots: 3.0 / Key Passes: 1.2
Halil Akbunar (Göztepe, Midfielder)
Halil Akbunar is the leader of Göztepe this season. His direct / indirect contribution for the scoring holds his team above the relegation line. He has 4 goals and 4 assists in 17 Turkish Süper Lig games this season. Halil Akbunar also has 1 goal and 1 assist in 2 cup games. In total, he made contribution to 33% of his teams’ goals this season. Göztepe is playing against Gençlerbirliği this week and Gençlerbirliği have many missing players like Bogdan Stancu, Daniel Candeias, Floyd Ayite, Sefa Yilmaz and Arda Kizildag. We expect Halil Akbunar to lead his team to win the game against Gençlerbirliği this week.
Key Stats (per game): Crosses: 0.7 / Shots: 0.8 / Key Passes: 1.0
Ryan Babel (Galatasaray, Midfielder)
Due to Radamel Falcao’s continuous injury and Mbaye Diagne’s sent off in last Beşiktaş game, we expect coach Fatih Terim to pick an OOP (out of position) to play as a striker against Denizlispor. The strongest candidate for this position seems like Ryan Babel. After his injury period, he started to play again. This game is a suitable opportunity for him to increase his number of goals. (currently he has 2 goals) We should remind that Denizlispor is currently at the 20th place of the table within 21 teams.
Key Stats (per game): Crosses: 0.4 / Shots: 1.1 / Key Passes: 1.4
Uğurcan Çakır (Trabzonspor, Goal Keeper)
Uğurcan Çakır has been performing well with 6 clean sheets and 55 total saves including 1 penalty-kick save in 17 games since the start of the season. He has conceded only 5 goals in last 9 games. He has a harmony with their new coach Abdullah Avci and Uğurcan Çakır is one of the key factors in his defensive style of play. They are playing against Konyaspor in mid-week fixture and we expect a low-scoring game. A possible clean sheet is loading for Uğurcan Çakır…
Surprise Pick
Caner Erkin (Fenerbahçe, Defender)
Caner Erkin is one of the most effective defenders of Turkish Süper Lig without any doubt. He has 3 goals, 16 assists and 13 clean sheets in his 45 appearances for last two season. He always meets what we expect from a defender in fantasy football game. As of 20th Gameweek of the season, he is topping the assist ranking table. Although Fenerbahçe will play against one of the strong teams of the league in a difficult winter conditions, Caner Erkin might be again a suitable pick for the week. Fenerbahçe is playing to win the title and they have to win this kind of difficult games. Caner is a master set-piece taker and we expect especially assists from him during this set-pieces.
Key Stats (per game): Crosses: 2.9 / Shots: 0.6 / Key Passes: 2.7
Recommended Teams for Player Picks
Galatasaray
After the derby loss against Beşiktaş, Galatasaray want their supporters to forget this loss with a high-scoring win against their weak opponent this week. Denizlispor has too many problems, especially economical. Their president and coach were about to resign from their positions. Their difficult situation is an opportunity for Galatasaray. Younes Belhanda, Ryan Babel, Arda Turan and Sofiane Feghouli might be suitable picks for this week.
Başakşehir
After their below-par performances, Başakşehir started to perform better with a 7 points in last 3 games. They can catch their opponents who are at the top places of the table. They have a 3 games of good fixture ahead starting with the away game against Kayserispor. During the absence of Edin Visca, you can pick Demba Ba, Daniel Aleksic, İrfan Can Kahveci, Rafael and Ponck for your squads.
Turkey Fantasy — Tips for Gameweek 20 was originally published in The Call-Up on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
