Two of the Super Lig’s biggest sides meet in the group stages of the Turkish Cup, with the early indications being that these two teams will be the ones to battle it out to top Group C as the strongest outfits in this section of the draw. The Turkish Cup doesn’t immediately enter into a knockout format with the top two sides in each of the three groups progressing to the usual knockout format we would associate with cup football.

The most recent head to head meeting between these sides took place back on the 2nd November and produced five goals as Fenerbahce ran out 3-2 winners. Besiktas suffered a red card after just 25 minutes in that game, but still managed to register an xG of 1.13 and score two goals. Fenerbahce naturally took hold of the game after that sending off, firing in three goals from their 23 shots overall.

Besiktas have seen BTTS in two of their last three matches across all competitions, with both of these games producing at least four goals. They drew 2-2 to Gaizantep, despite having an xG of 3.00 and 3-3 against Trabsonszpor which was enough match that saw Besiktas pick up a red card. 

Besiktas are capable of scoring on the road as displayed by the 16 they’ve scored across their nine away matches, but lack the defensive solidity to keep a clean sheet here against a side that they’ve already conceded three goals against this season.

Crystal Palace have seen BTTS in each of their last two matches in a hectic period for the Eagles, but have not won either of these games - drawing 2-2 to KuPS in the Conference League and suffering their biggest defeat of the campaign in the Premier League so far in the form of a 4-1 loss to Leeds. 

Oliver Glasner has repeatedly noted that he doesn’t have the biggest squad, and it’s definitely been an issue for the Eagles with all five of their defeats in the Premier League coming in a gameweek following a Conference League fixture. 

This was always going to be something that Palace struggled with, but even the biggest squads in the Premier League would struggle with their calendar over the last week - playing Thursday, Saturday and now Tuesday.

Arsenal are likely to rotate their side here with Mikel Arteta aware of the issues that the Gunners faced in this period of the season last campaign. 

Arsenal stumbled a little in December last year, dropping points against Everton and Fulham which gave Liverpool the initiative in the title race - they also contested an EFL Cup tie against Palace in this period, running out 3-2 winners with a rotated squad.

This rotation should give Palace opportunities to score here, Glasner took a gamble with his team selection against KuPS in the Conference League which is a wager that can only be justified if they get a positive result here having failed to win either of the last two matches in this busy period of the season.

Vitoria managed to score four goals in this fixture last season, with Sporting matching that tally to produce one of the most entertaining matches in Liga Portugal last season. Vitoria did exceed their xG on that occasion, but still generated chances of decent quality - having 15 shots in the game which produced an xG of 1.75, more than the 1.16 Sporting posted.

Vitoria have the firepower and form at home to cause Sporting problems again here, having netted 11 across their seven home games (1.57 per game). They’ve only lost one of these matches, which was against Benfica in a game that saw the home side pick up a red card midway through the second half. 

Sporting conceded two goals in their most recent assignment, which was a cup clash against Santa Clara. They came away 3-2 winners in that game but played a pretty strong side, which may impact the outcome of this clash as Vitoria rotated for their cup defeat - likely with this assignment in mind.