Liverpool face a tough test on the road as they travel to Istanbul to take on Galatasaray in Matchweek 2 of the UEFA Champions League on September 30.<\/p>\n
Arne Slot\u2019s side saw their perfect start to the season end last weekend, with a shock 2-1 defeat to Crystal Palace in the Premier League halting their 100% record. The Dutchman will be eager for a swift response as the Reds return to European action.<\/p>\n
Galatasaray, meanwhile, approach this clash full of confidence. Okan Buruk rotated his squad during the league win at Alanyaspor, resting several stars who are expected to return here. Former Manchester City captain \u0130lkay G\u00fcndo\u011fan and striker Victor Osimhen are among those set to feature.<\/p>\n
Slot faces a decision up front. Alexander Isak is being carefully managed for fitness, meaning Hugo Ekitike could start after serving a domestic suspension. At right-back, Conor Bradley should keep his place, although Jeremie Frimpong is pushing for a recall after returning from injury.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Galatasaray (3-4-3):<\/strong><\/p>\n Cakir (GK) \u2014 Singo, S\u00e1nchez, Jakobs \u2014 Sallai, Torreira, G\u00fcndo\u011fan, Elmali \u2014 San\u00e9, Osimhen, Yilmaz<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Liverpool (4-2-3-1):<\/strong><\/p>\n Alisson (GK) \u2014 Bradley, Konat\u00e9, Van Dijk, Robertson \u2014 Gravenberch, Mac Allister \u2014 Salah, Szoboszlai, Gakpo \u2014 Ekitike<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Galatasaray\u2019s fiery home atmosphere always makes Istanbul a daunting trip for any opponent, and Buruk\u2019s men will look to exploit their attacking depth. However, Liverpool should have the quality to edge a close contest if they respond well to their weekend setback.<\/p>\n Prediction: Galatasaray 1-2 Liverpool<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Liverpool face a tough test on the road as they travel to Istanbul to take on Galatasaray in Matchweek 2\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":202,"featured_media":37129,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[3950,3798,4045,3686,3918,1823,3796,3708,3979,3279,219,48,3492],"class_list":["post-16178","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-football","tag-alexander-isak","tag-arne-slot","tag-champions-league-2025-26","tag-david-ornstein","tag-english-premier-league","tag-fabrizio-romano","tag-football","tag-galatasaray","tag-hugo-ekitike","tag-lfc","tag-liverpool","tag-uefa-champions-league","tag-victor-osimhen"],"reading_time":"2 min read","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16178","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/202"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16178"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16178\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37129"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16178"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16178"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16178"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Prediction<\/strong><\/h3>\n