An intriguing pre-season friendly will take place at the Kocaeli Stadium in Turkey on Wednesday evening, as Galatasaray commence their preparations for the new campaign against Hull City.
The hosts are gearing up to defend their 23rd Turkish Super Lig title next term, while Liam Rosenior's side will pit their wits against Championship opposition for the third season in a row.
Match preview
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Consigning a horrendous 2021-22 season to the past, Galatasaray made a vast improvement on that 13th-placed finish to return to their rightful place at the summit of the Super Lig table last season, collecting 88 points from their 36 contests to storm to the top of the leaderboard.
Okan Buruk's men finished eight points clear of nearest rivals Fenerbahce to be crowned champions of Turkey for the 23rd time, having enjoyed a stellar streak of end-of-season form with six successive wins - conceding just one goal in the process and being awarded a final 3-0 triumph versus Hatayspor - to close out a successful campaign.
The absence of European football no doubt benefitted a Galatasaray team who remained top from Christmas Day until the end of the season, but there was a sense of disappointment with their Turkish Cup exploits, as they lost 3-2 to Istanbul Basaksehir in the quarter-finals.
However, Buruk's side will not be losing sleep over that result, as they also prepare to battle Kisvarda, Austria Vienna and Sturm Graz in pre-season before commencing their quest for a place in the Champions League group stages.
Either Zalgiris or Struga will await Galatasaray in the second qualifying round, while a Turkish Super Cup tie with bitter adversaries Fenerbahce is also on the agenda, but for now, the hosts will seek to avoid falling victim to the Tigers' bite.
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However, that bite eluded Hull City for large portions of the 2022-23 Championship season, as Rosenior's men established a reputation as the stalemate specialists but often failed in their efforts to convert one point into three.
In what was their second season of second-tier football following promotion back from League One in 2021, consolidation was the aim for the Tigers, who improved on their 19th-placed ranking from 2021-22 to occupy 15th spot by the close of play this time around.
Finishing seven points better off with 58 to their name, Hull actually collected an identical number of wins (14) while sharing the spoils on 16 occasions - only Rotherham United and Premier League-bound Luton Town played out more draws with 17 apiece.
Seven of Hull's last nine fixtures in 2022-23 ended level - including their final two against Swansea City and Luton - and while they only suffered one defeat in that sequence too, just three of their final 16 contests ended with the Tigers taking home a maximum.
Rosenior's side will are also scheduled to do battle with Hatayspor as part of their warm-weather camp in Turkey, before finalising their preparations for the new term against Grimsby Town, Barnsley, Bradford City and Scunthorpe United.
Team News
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Outgoings have been the theme for Galatasaray in the transfer window so far, as the Turkish giants have already parted ways with three notable names in Juan Mata, Bafetimbi Gomis and Mostafa Mohamed, the latter of whom has now joined Nantes permanently.
The hosts have made just one permanent acquisition since the end of last season - converting Kaan Ayhan's loan deal from Sassuolo into a permanent move - but rumours are circulating over a possible swoop for Serbian striker Luka Jovic.
The Turkish champions relied on the goalscoring capabilities of Mauro Icardi last term - the Argentine netted 22 times in 24 league games - but he has since returned to parent club Paris Saint-Germain, leaving Kerem Akturkoglu and Dries Mertens to shoulder the attacking burden for now.
Akturkoglu is one of several internationals that will require close assessment, though, as Baris Yilmaz, Nicolo Zaniolo, Victor Nelsson, Olimpiu Morutan, Alexandru Cicaldau and Abdulkerim Bardakci also return from their national teams.
Meanwhile, Hull confirmed their first arrival of the summer transfer window on Sunday, bringing in Manchester City striker Liam Delap on loan, and the 20-year-old will be a part of the squad for their Turkish training camp.
However, Callum Elder, Tyler Smith and Billy Chadwick have all left for pastures new, while Jean Michael Seri - who is poised to face his old club - was recently on duty with Ivory Coast and may require a once-over upon his return.
Galatasaray possible starting lineup:
Muslera; Boey, Ayhan, Bayram, Karatas; Kutlu, Torreira; Demir, Zaniolo, Akturkoglu; Mertens
Hull City possible starting lineup:
Ingram; Coyle, Jones, McLoughlin, Greaves; Seri, Simons; Sayyadmanesh, Tufan, Longman; Delap
We say: Galatasaray 3-1 Hull City
It would take a brave soul to confidently predict the outcome of pre-season friendlies, where fringe players bid to get into the coaches' good books and managers take the opportunity to make a host of in-game alterations.
Galatasaray may wish to keep some of their international crop in reserve following their recent exploits, but we ultimately expect the Turkish champions' quality to shine through.
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Galatasaray win with a probability of 72.95%. A draw had a probability of 16.9% and a win for Hull City had a probability of 10.17%.
The most likely scoreline for a Galatasaray win was 2-0 with a probability of 12.59%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-0 (10.83%) and 3-0 (9.77%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (8.03%), while for a Hull City win it was 0-1 (3.45%). The actual scoreline of 3-4 was predicted with a 0.1% likelihood.
Ben Knapton
