Fenerbahçe welcome Liverpool to Chobani Stadyumu on Wednesday for a Champions League league-phase fixture, with kick-off set for 20.45 TSİ, according to Fanatik. The Turkish side are hosting the English club for the first time in their history.
Clement Turpin will referee the match, which Fanatik reports will be broadcast live on TRT 1. Fanatik also published probable starting line-ups for both teams ahead of the game.
Why it matters
The fixture is new ground for Fenerbahçe. Fanatik notes that the Istanbul club have never previously met Liverpool, although they have faced a long list of other English opponents — Manchester City, Aston Villa, Arsenal, Manchester United, Newcastle United, Chelsea and Nottingham Forest among them.
Wednesday's game will be Fenerbahçe's 25th meeting with an English side and their 44th match in Europe's top club competition, per Fanatik. It also marks the club's 310th appearance in European competition overall.
Fenerbahçe's record against English clubs
Fanatik reports that Fenerbahçe have played 24 competitive matches against English teams, winning six, drawing four and losing 14. In those games they scored 18 goals and conceded 48.
The club's first encounter with English opposition came in the 1968-1969 season, when they met Manchester City in what was then the European Cup. Fenerbahçe drew 0-0 away and won 2-1 at home to advance, according to Fanatik.
Subsequent meetings went less well. Fanatik reports that Fenerbahçe lost both legs to Aston Villa in the 1977-1978 UEFA Cup, and were eliminated by Arsenal in the 1979-1980 Cup Winners' Cup after a 2-0 away defeat and a 0-0 home draw. The club then went 16 seasons without facing an English team, Fanatik notes.
More recent matchups include a 2008-2009 Champions League group meeting with Arsenal — a 5-2 home loss and a 0-0 away draw — and a 2013-2014 play-off against the same opponent, which Fenerbahçe lost 3-0 at home and 2-0 away. Fanatik adds that Fenerbahçe were beaten 6-0 away by Aston Villa earlier in the current league phase.
European pedigree and a familiar face
Fenerbahçe's strongest Champions League run came in 2007-2008 under coach Arthur Zico, according to Fanatik. That season they advanced from the group, beat Sevilla on penalties to reach the quarter-finals, then lost to Chelsea — winning 2-1 at home before a 2-0 defeat in London.
Across 43 previous Champions League matches, Fanatik reports Fenerbahçe have recorded 11 wins, eight draws and 24 defeats, scoring 45 goals and conceding 79. In 309 European fixtures overall, the club have 122 victories, 69 draws and 118 losses, with 420 goals scored and 435 conceded.
Sabah reports that Dirk Kuyt has made his first-team selection decision for the match. Kuyt, the former Liverpool forward, is now in charge at Fenerbahçe. Fanatik's probable line-ups list Fenerbahçe as Ederson, Semedo, Skriniar, Brown, Levent (Oppong), Kante, Guendouzi, İsmail, Greenwood, Oğuz and Lukaku, with Liverpool's projected XI given as Alisson, Araujo, Jacquet, Van Dijk, Kerkez, Mac Allister, Szoboszlai, Gakpo, Wirtz, Barcola and Isak. Milliyet also reported a decision concerning Mert Müldür.
Hürriyet carried comments from Romelu Lukaku, who said he knows what is expected of him and will work for it.
Both line-ups are provisional and may change before kick-off. The match is the fourth round of the Champions League league phase.
What to watch: whether Fenerbahçe can improve on a poor historical record against English opposition, and how Kuyt sets up his side against the club he once played for.
