Express & Star

Besiktas v Wolves: Three dangermen to watch out for

Wolves take on Besiktas this evening hoping to register their first points of the Europa League group stages, but who do they need to look out for?

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Vodafone Park (Photo: Aykerim27)

Here, we pick out three players to keep an eye on for the hosts.

Loris Karius

Loris Karius

Loris Karius will be a familiar name on the team sheet tonight – mainly due to his calamitous past at Wolves’ Premier League rivals Liverpool.

Karius is famed for making two mistakes in the Champions League final as Liverpool lost 3-1 to Real Madrid in May 2018.

And it appears the errors have not stopped during his loan spell in Istanbul.

The shot-stopper misjudged a clearance and gifted the ball to Slovan Bratislava’s Andraz Sporar in their opening Europa League group game.

Karius also took out team-mate Pedro Rebocho to add to his woes and allow Sporar to open the scoring in that 4-2 defeat.

He’s kept just the one clean sheet in his opening six games in Turkey but with English eyes on this clash he will want to up his game.

Burak Yilmaz

Burak Yilmaz playing for Galatasaray (Photo: Esesahmet)

At 34, Burak Yilmaz might be coming to the end of his career, but the ex-Galatasary man certainly knows where the goal is.

The veteran forward has only made two appearances for Besiktas this term, but has already opened his account.

Yilmaz scored in the 1-1 draw with Basaksehir, but pulled up in his second game – the 4-1 defeat to his old club Trabzonspor.

But the experienced Turkish international is expected to shake off a leg knock and be fit enough to feature tonight.

Guven Yalcin

Yilmaz might bring the experience, but Wolves will also have to be wary of Besiktas young gun Guven Yalcin.

The 20-year-old broke into the first team last season and his eight goals in 22 appearances for Besiktas propelled him to international recognition.

The young striker featured in Turkey’s 2-1 friendly victory over Greece and in the 2-1 Euro 2020 qualifying defeat to Iceland in June.

Since Yilmaz’s return to action, he has had to settle for a spot on the bench.

If he does not return to the starting line-up, he will be a serious threat off the bench.

Netted his second goal of the campaign in that defeat to Trabzonspor on Sunday.