Beşiktaş Can Punish a Hapoel Be'er Sheva Side Running on Empty

Thursday night in Istanbul. Beşiktaş host Hapoel Be'er Sheva in the UEFA Europa League, and on the evidence available, this should be straightforward for the Turkish side. I say should. Football has a habit of making you look stupid the moment you say that.

Beşiktaş: Goals, Grit, and a Point to Prove

Beşiktaş have been at it in this competition. Across five completed Europa League matches, they have won three, drawn one, and lost one. Twelve goals scored. Six conceded. That is a side that competes.

The thing is, that record tells you about attitude as much as anything else. Beşiktaş put four past Marseille in September. They followed that up with a 3-2 win over Hoffenheim. These are not soft victories. These are teams that make you work, and Beşiktaş worked.

The concern is at the back. A clean sheet percentage of twenty percent across those five matches tells you something. They are open. They scored twice in a 2-2 draw with Crystal Palace in October, which was two points dropped against a side they should have seen off. Listen, you cannot keep conceding two a game and expect results to keep going your way. Basics. Keep the ball out of your net first.

But going forward, they are a genuine threat. Twelve goals in five Europa League matches is the kind of return that gets you results even when the defence is shaky. And at home, in front of their own crowd, Beşiktaş will believe they can score tonight.

Hapoel Be'er Sheva: A Side Going Backwards

The thing is, I have looked at what Hapoel Be'er Sheva have produced in this competition, and it is not good. Three completed Europa League matches. No wins. One draw, two defeats. One goal scored. Six conceded.

That is not a rough patch. That is a team that is not competing at this level.

Their only point came from a 0-0 draw with Dinamo Zagreb in September. Since then, Hapoel Be'er Sheva lost 1-2 to AZ Alkmaar and then lost 0-4 to Union Saint-Gilloise. The 0-4 defeat to Union Saint-Gilloise is the one that sticks out. That is a capitulation. That is a group of players who stopped fighting. Unacceptable.

Their clean sheet percentage of thirty-three percent sounds reasonable until you realise it is propped up entirely by that goalless draw. They have shipped six goals in three matches. A side that cannot score and leaks goals away from home has no business getting anything at the Vodafone Park tonight.

The Verdict

I do not need a laptop to work this one out. Beşiktaş have the desire, the goals, and the home crowd behind them. Hapoel Be'er Sheva have shown no ability to score and a worrying tendency to collapse under pressure. The standards required to survive in this competition are not being met by the Israeli side. End of.

Beşiktaş to win. Back it with conviction. One selection. That is all you need.