Alanyaspor vs Besiktas preview, team news, tips, h2h: Ndidi to protect unbeaten record

Alanyaspor host Besiktas at the GAIN Park Stadium on Sunday in a Turkish Super Lig fixture that pits a Besiktas side unbeaten in five matches this season against a home team still searching for its first win, Afrik-Foot reports.

Vincenzo Italiano’s side have not conceded a single goal since the Italian took charge in June, a run that stretches across four Europa League qualifying victories and last weekend’s 1-0 win over Eyupspor.

Joao Pereira’s Alanyaspor, by contrast, opened their own campaign with a share of the spoils, drawing 1-1 at home to Gaziantep after Ruan Pereira Duarte’s early goal was cancelled out.

The visitors arrive in confident mood off the back of a 3-0 first-leg win over Kauno Zalgiris in the Europa League play-off round, though a return leg in Lithuania four days later means squad rotation cannot be ruled out.

Alanyaspor vs Besiktas: Season context and recent form

Alanyaspor’s summer was defined as much by who left as who arrived, with top scorer Guven Yalcin departing for Kasimpasa on a free transfer.

That exit leaves a creative gap that Pereira has yet to fully address, and it showed in the Gaziantep match, where the hosts led early through Ruan before fading in the second half and settling for a point.

Alanyaspor’s home form has generally been steady rather than spectacular in recent seasons, and the compact GAIN Park Stadium, which holds fewer than ten thousand fans, has traditionally been a difficult place for bigger sides to find rhythm.

Besiktas will know that better than most, given their patchy recent record in Alanya, though their overall trajectory this season could not be more different from their hosts’.

Since replacing Sergen Yalçın in June, Italiano has won every one of his five competitive matches in charge, four of them by a single goal.

Two of those wins came against Denmark’s Midtjylland in the second qualifying round, two more against Czech side Hradec Kralove in the third round, and the run continued with the 1-0 league-opening victory over Eyupspor through Vaclav Cerny.

The 3-0 first-leg win over Kauno Zalgiris in the Europa League play-off round on Thursday, with goals from Oh Hyeon-gyu, Amir Murillo and a second-half Orkun Kokcu penalty, extended that defensive record to over 450 minutes without conceding.

Besiktas finished fourth in the Super Lig last season and will have European progression and a top-four finish as their stated aims for this campaign, with a game in hand still to come in Lithuania on August 27.

That fixture sits only four days after this trip to Alanya, and Italiano may be tempted to freshen up his side domestically with the second leg of the Zalgiris tie in mind.

For Alanyaspor, the priority remains simpler: a first league win of the season, and a result against a heavyweight opponent would go a long way towards settling any early nerves around the club.

Alanyaspor and Besiktas head-to-head record

Alanyaspor go into the game unbeaten in their last five meetings with Besiktas, a run that includes one win and four draws.

The most recent encounter finished 2-2 at Tupras Stadium in February, with Orkun Kokcu and Oh Hyeon-gyu on the scoresheet for the hosts in a match neither side could win.

Before that, Alanyaspor won 2-0 at home in August 2025, a result that remains their most recent victory over Besiktas.

The two draws either side of those results, a 1-1 in Istanbul in May 2025 and a 1-1 in Alanya in December 2024, complete a run in which Besiktas have failed to beat Alanyaspor in five straight meetings.

Zoom out to the wider head-to-head picture and the balance favours Besiktas comfortably, with 10 wins from the sides’ last 20 meetings across all competitions against four for Alanyaspor and six draws.

Besiktas have scored 37 goals in those 20 games to Alanyaspor’s 23, a reminder of the quality gap that exists even if recent results have been closer than that record suggests.

Team news: Ndidi pushes for Besiktas recall

Alanyaspor have no fresh fitness concerns to report following the Gaziantep draw, and Pereira could name an unchanged starting eleven for the visit of Besiktas.

Guven Yalcin’s summer departure remains the most significant change to the squad from last season, though Ianis Hagi and Ruan both have the profile to carry more creative responsibility in his absence.

Ruan’s early goal against Gaziantep suggests he could be trusted centrally again, while Florent Hadergjonaj’s ability to both create and cover defensively continues to make him one of the more versatile options in Pereira’s squad.

Besiktas have a healthier squad than at any point since Italiano’s arrival, with Felix Uduokhai available again after suspension and Kassoum Ouattara back from his own ban following a red card against Hradec Kralove.

Leandro Trossard is easing his way back into contention after resuming training following his involvement at the World Cup, and made his first appearance off the bench in the win over Hradec Kralove, though a first start still looks premature.

Super Eagles captain Wilfred Ndidi, who came close to leaving the club this summer, could be recalled to the Besiktas midfield in place of Junior Olaitan. Ndidi’s inclusion is a change that would add defensive steel against an Alanyaspor side capable of springing forward quickly through Hagi and Ruan. Ndidi, one of Nigeria’s top earners in Turkey, did not play a single minute of Besiktas mid-week win.

Up front, Oh Hyeon-gyu may be preferred to Semih Kilicsoy, continuing his recent run in the side, while Dusan Vlahovic is expected to eventually become first-choice striker once he settles into Italiano’s system.

Star player comparison: Ianis Hagi vs Wilfred Ndidi

Alanyaspor’s hopes of unlocking Besiktas rest heavily on Hagi, the Romanian international whose passing range and set-piece delivery give Pereira’s side their main source of creativity following Guven Yalcin’s exit.

For Besiktas, few players carry more defensive responsibility than Ndidi, whose recall to the starting eleven would immediately strengthen the visitors’ control of central midfield.

The managers: Joao Pereira vs Vincenzo Italiano

Joao Pereira has been in charge of Alanyaspor since last year and has generally overseen steady, if unspectacular, performances in his first full season at the helm.

The Portuguese coach favours a back three and looks to build patiently from deep, a style that has produced defensive solidity but has occasionally left his side short of goals, a pattern already visible in the Gaziantep draw.

Vincenzo Italiano arrived at Besiktas in June. The 48-year-old Italian made his name at Genoa, where he guided the club to their first Coppa Italia title in 51 years before the two parties parted ways in May.

Italiano is known for demanding high pressing and quick vertical transitions from his teams, typically set up in a 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3, and his early results at Besiktas, five wins from five without conceding, suggest the players have taken to his methods quickly.

There is no reliable head-to-head record between the two coaches, since this will be their first meeting as opposing managers.

Tactical preview: How Alanyaspor vs Besiktas could play out

Pereira’s back three of Fatih Aksoy, Fidan Aliti and Nuno Lima will need to defend with discipline against a Besiktas front line capable of rotating positions fluidly under Italiano’s instructions.

Alanyaspor’s wing-backs, likely Florent Hadergjonaj and Yusuf Ozdemir, carry the added burden of both attacking and defending the width, and any lapse in that battle could be exploited by Cerny and Milot Rashica cutting inside from wide areas.

With Guven Yalcin gone, Alanyaspor’s route to goal is likely to run through quick transitions rather than sustained pressure, with Hagi looking to spring Ui-Jo Hwang in behind on the counter.

Besiktas’ double pivot, likely Ndidi alongside Salih Ozcan, gives Italiano the platform to push his full-backs forward without leaving the defence exposed, though a back four stretched by Alanyaspor’s front three could offer half-chances if the hosts win the ball high up the pitch.

Set pieces could prove decisive given Hagi’s delivery for Alanyaspor and the aerial presence Besiktas can call on from their centre-backs at the other end.

Fatigue management is also worth watching, with Besiktas facing a second leg in Lithuania only four days after this trip to Alanya, a factor that could shape Italiano’s team selection and his players’ intensity levels in the closing stages.

Alanyaspor vs Besiktas betting tips

Alanyaspor vs Besiktas prediction

Besiktas’ defensive record this season has been built on discipline rather than dominance, with four of their five wins arriving by a single goal, and there is little in Alanyaspor’s underlying performances to suggest that pattern will change on Sunday.

Alanyaspor’s recent head-to-head resistance against Besiktas offers genuine hope of another point, particularly at a compact ground where away sides have often found goals hard to come by.

The visitors’ game in hand against Kauno Zalgiris four days later is the biggest variable, and any rotation from Italiano would only narrow the gap further.

On balance, Besiktas’ quality and their perfect start should be enough to see them edge a tight contest, though not comfortably.