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Galatasaray will face Fortuna Dusseldorf at the Raiffeisen Arena in Austria on Monday in a pre-season friendly between the two teams. The Turkish powerhouse enjoyed a brilliant campaign last season as they secured the Turkish Super Lig title for the 24th time in club history with an unprecedented 102 points.
They have now begun work to retain the title in the upcoming campaign as they kicked off their pre-season run against LASK on Thursday. They were beaten 3-2 by the Austrian Bundesliga side and had looked set to be headed toward a draw following Metehan Baltaci's second-half brace before their opponents reclaimed the lead late in the game.
Fortuna Dusseldorf, meanwhile, narrowly missed out on promotion to the Bundesliga last season following their dramatic defeat to Bochum in the promotion playoffs back in May. They have, however, enjoyed a positive start to their pre-season campaign, picking up comfortable wins over Holzheimer and DVTK as they look to return to the German top flight.
Following Monday's game, the visitors will continue their pre-season campaign with friendlies against Kickers Offenbach and Ipswich Town before returning to competitive action next month.
Galatasaray vs Fortuna Dusseldorf Head-to-Head and Key Numbers
- Monday's game will mark the first-ever meeting between the two teams.
- Galatasaray have had 32 matches against German opposition in European competition. They have won seven of those games, lost 12 times and drawn the other 13.
- Fortuna were the highest-scoring side in the German second tier last season with a goal tally of 72.
- Cimbom are without a clean sheet in their last five games across all competitions.
- Galatasaray had the best defensive record in the Turkish top flight last season with a goal concession tally of 26.
Galatasaray vs Fortuna Dusseldorf Prediction
Galatasaray kicked off their pre-season campaign with defeat and will be looking to rectify things on Monday. They have particularly impressed on foreign grounds recently and will head into the midweek clash as overwhelming favorites.
Fortuna are on a run of back-to-back victories and have lost just once since early April. However, the sheer gulf in class and quality between the two teams should see the Turkish side win on Monday.
Prediction: Galatasaray 3-1 Fortuna
Galatasaray vs Fortuna Dusseldorf Betting Tips
Tip 1 - Result: Galatasaray to win
Tip 2 - Goals - Over/under 2.5 - Over 2.5 goals (Each of Fortuna's last five matches have produced more than 2.5 goals)
Tip 3 - Both teams to score: YES (Both sides have found the back of the net in four of Cimbom's last five matches)
