Besiktas vs Eyupspor: Ndidi set for Super Lig opener — Preview, team news, tips & H2H

Super Eagles captain Wilfred Ndidi is set to feature when Besiktas open their 2026-27 Turkish Super Lig campaign against Eyupspor at Tupras Stadium on Sunday.

The Nigerian midfielder, who has been the subject of transfer speculation throughout the summer, remained at the Istanbul club after Besiktas rejected offers from Saudi Arabia, and will hope to build on an impressive debut season in Turkey under new head coach Vincenzo Italiano.

Fellow Nigerian Ahmed Abdullahi could also be involved on the other side after completing a permanent move from Premier League club Sunderland to Eyupspor earlier this month, giving the season opener a notable Super Eagles subplot.

Preview and recent form: Besiktas vs Eyupspor

Besiktas finished fourth in the Super Lig last season, a position that secured Europa League qualification but fell short of the title ambitions their supporters expect.

Former Bologna and Fiorentina boss Italiano replaced Sergen Yalcin in June and has already made a strong early impression, guiding the Black Eagles past Midtjylland (3-0 on aggregate) and Hradec Kralove (2-0 on aggregate) in the Europa League qualifying rounds.

In those four competitive fixtures, Besiktas conceded just two goals, suggesting Italiano has already tightened a defence that leaked too many opportunities under his predecessor.

The squad has been significantly strengthened during the summer window, with Leandro Trossard arriving from Arsenal and Dusan Vlahovic completing a free transfer from Juventus on a three-year contract worth a reported 7.5 million euros per season.

Ndidi, the Super Eagles midfielder, made 31 appearances across all competitions last season and wore the captain’s armband on several occasions after initially arriving from Leicester City.

Orkun Kokcu finished as the club’s top league scorer with eight goals and has formed a strong midfield partnership with Ndidi, while Alexander Nubel has provided stability between the posts since joining the squad.

Eyupspor arrive in contrasting circumstances after a turbulent 12 months that very nearly ended in relegation.

The club finished 15th with 33 points, surviving by just a single point above the drop zone, and went through three different head coaches following Arda Turan’s departure for Shakhtar Donetsk last year.

Selcuk Sahin and Orhan Ak both had brief spells in charge before Ozhan Pulat was appointed in late June to oversee a significant rebuild.

Several key players have left, including goalkeepers Berke Ozer and Marcos Felipe and left-back Umut Meras, forcing Pulat to reshape the squad with a host of summer arrivals.

Among those new faces is Abdullahi, the 22-year-old Nigerian striker who joined from Sunderland after failing to make a senior appearance for the Premier League club despite impressive performances for their under-21 side.

Eyupspor did record pre-season victories over Mardin 1969 (1-0) and Istanbulspor (2-0), but those results do little to disguise the scale of the rebuilding task ahead of Pulat.

The visitors failed to keep a clean sheet in their final 12 consecutive matches across all competitions at the end of last season, a run that underlines the defensive fragility Pulat must address.

Head-to-head: Besiktas vs Eyupspor

Besiktas have a dominant record against Eyupspor, winning four of the five meetings between the sides and drawing the other.

Eyupspor have never beaten Besiktas in competitive football, with the overall goal tally standing at 13-5 in the Black Eagles’ favour across those five matches.

The most recent encounter, in January 2026, saw Eyupspor hold Besiktas to a 2-2 draw at their own ground, with Kokcu opening the scoring inside six minutes before Umut Bozok and Emre Akbaba (penalty) turned the match around for the hosts, only for Cengiz Under to rescue a point for Besiktas on 76 minutes.

In the reverse fixture earlier in the 2025-26 season, Besiktas won 3-1 at Tupras Stadium, the same venue where Sunday’s match will take place.

Goals have been a consistent feature of this fixture, with both teams scoring in four of the five meetings and an average of 3.6 goals per game across the head-to-head record.

Team news and predicted XIs: Besiktas vs Eyupspor

Italiano will assess Tiago Djalo’s fitness ahead of the match after the Portuguese defender picked up an injury during the second leg against Hradec Kralove last week.

If Djalo is unavailable, Ivory Coast international Emmanuel Agbadou is likely to step into the centre of defence alongside Emir Han Topcu.

Ndidi, the Super Eagles captain, returned to training ahead of the Hradec Kralove tie after recovering from an ankle ligament injury and is expected to feature, though his exact involvement will depend on his match fitness following a disrupted pre-season.

Vlahovic only completed his transfer on August 12, just four days before the match, and is unlikely to start despite being officially registered.

Hyeon-gyu Oh should lead the line, with Kokcu and Ndidi expected to anchor the midfield.

Trossard could make his first competitive appearance for the club on the left flank.

Eyupspor remain without Jawad El Yamiq, who is continuing his recovery from injury and will not feature on Sunday.

Pulat has overseen a major squad overhaul, with Abdelhamid Sabiri (from Fiorentina), Mete Demir and Abdullahi among the summer signings, though the new coach may choose to introduce several of his recruits gradually rather than throw them all in for such a demanding opening fixture.

Horatiu Moldovan is expected to start in goal, with Calegari, Zak Jules and Gilbert Mendy forming part of the defensive setup.

Abdullahi, the former Flying Eagles striker, is in contention to lead the attack after impressing in pre-season.

Star player watch: Ndidi vs Abdullahi

The Nigerian connection provides the most compelling individual storyline of this fixture, with two players at very different stages of their careers set to share a pitch in Istanbul.

Ndidi, the Super Eagles captain, arrives as one of the most experienced defensive midfielders in the Turkish top flight after a distinguished career at Leicester City that included a Premier League title and over 200 appearances in England’s top division.

Abdullahi, by contrast, is a raw talent seeking his first taste of regular senior football after a frustrating spell at Sunderland in which injuries limited him to under-21 action only.

Ndidi has been a regular fixture in Besiktas’ midfield since joining, starting in every match for which he was available last season and establishing himself as the team’s defensive anchor.

The former Leicester man’s ability to break up opposition attacks, combined with his passing range, made him one of the most effective defensive midfielders in the Super Lig.

Abdullahi’s profile is different but equally intriguing, with the 22-year-old having scored 21 goals in 38 youth league matches at Gent before his move to England, followed by six goals in seven Premier League 2 outings for Sunderland.

The young Nigerian has previously trialled with Marseille and Borussia Dortmund, hinting at the raw quality that convinced Eyupspor to sign him, and he scored in Nigeria’s third-place playoff victory over Tunisia at the 2023 Africa U-20 Cup of Nations.

The managers: Besiktas vs Eyupspor

Vincenzo Italiano arrives at Besiktas with a growing reputation earned across a decade of Italian football management.

The 48-year-old, who was born in Karlsruhe, Germany, to Sicilian parents, guided Spezia to their first-ever promotion to Serie A before taking charge at Fiorentina, where he led the club to three consecutive European campaigns.

He moved to Bologna in 2024 and continued to build his stock before accepting the Besiktas role on a two-year contract in June, becoming the club’s 11th manager in five years.

Turkish supporters have already given him the nickname “the Italian Klopp,” reflecting the high-energy, possession-based style of football he is known for implementing.

Ozhan Pulat, at 41, represents a very different managerial profile.

The Bursa-born coach spent the majority of his career as an assistant, working under the likes of Paul Le Guen and Omer Erdogan at clubs including Bursaspor, Gaziantep FK and Ankaragucu.

His head coaching experience is limited to brief spells at Kastamonuspor, Adanaspor and Hatayspor, where results were mixed, but his preferred 4-3-3 attacking formation and emphasis on player development caught Eyupspor’s attention.

Sunday represents the biggest challenge of Pulat’s career so far, and how he sets up his newly assembled squad against a club with Besiktas’ attacking firepower will reveal much about his tactical approach.

Tactical preview: Besiktas vs Eyupspor

Italiano has deployed a 4-1-4-1 system across the four Europa League qualifying matches, with Salih Ozcan sitting as the single pivot in front of the defence and Kokcu operating in a more advanced central role.

The width comes from the two inside forwards, Vaclav Cerny and Junior Olaitan, who cut inside from wide positions and allow the full-backs to push higher and provide the natural width.

Ndidi’s role within that system will be interesting to track, as the Super Eagles captain can either slot into the Ozcan position or partner alongside Kokcu in a slightly adjusted double pivot if Italiano opts for more defensive security.

With Trossard now available, Italiano has the option to add a player capable of drifting between the lines, creating overloads in central areas that could overwhelm Eyupspor’s midfield.

Pulat is expected to set up in a 4-2-3-1 shape, using the double pivot of Raux Yao and a partner to provide protection for a defence that was among the worst in the division last season.

Eyupspor conceded 47 goals in 34 Super Lig matches in 2025-26, and their record of failing to keep a clean sheet in their final 12 matches raises serious questions about whether the new defensive signings can immediately address that weakness.

The key vulnerability for the visitors will be the transition between midfield and defence, where Besiktas’ pace and movement through Cerny, Olaitan and the overlapping full-backs could create space behind Eyupspor’s pressing line.

If Pulat’s side sit deep and try to contain, Besiktas’ quality in the final third should still create openings, while Eyupspor will need to be clinical on the counter-attack if Abdullahi is to make an impact on his potential debut.

Besiktas vs Eyupspor betting tips and predictions

Score prediction: Besiktas vs Eyupspor