Turkey vs Wales: Welsh in need of big improvement but qualification within grasp

Wales v Switzerland UEFA Euro 2020 Group A Baku Olympic Stadium

Euro 2020 moves into it's second round of matches this week, with Wales and Turkey both in urgent need of a win.

When: Wednesday June 16, 17:00 GMT

Where: Baku

How to watch: BBC

Best Bets

Gareth Bale to score and Caglar Soyuncu to receive a card at 16/1

Keifer Moore to score first goal at 10/3

Goal to be scored in the last 10 minutes at 19/4

Wales will look to build on the decent point against Switzerland as they face Turkey in Baku on Wednesday.

With Italy expected to dominate the group, the Robert Page knows this one was always likely to be the one they'd need to pin their chances upon and that certainly appears to be the case.

Turkey lost their first match against Italy in Rome, so their need to get a win on the board in one of the more competitive Euro 2020 groups is just as great.

Memorable match

Turkey 6-4 Wales (Qualifier - August 25, 1997)

There are no recent meetings between these two teams but the last time they did play it was an instant classic.

Current Wales boss Robert Page was in the line-up for Bobby Gould's men as they travelled to Istanbul for a World Cup qualifier, and it was one of those rare matches when nothing seems to make any sense.

Hakan Sukur and Saffet Akyuz had the hosts two up inside nine minutes, but Wales struck back with goals from Nathan Blake, Robbie Savage, and Dean Saunders.

Sukur levelled things up three minutes later with his second, but Andy Melville restored Wales' lead after the break.

However, Turkey refused to be denied, and Oguz Cetin made it 4-4 before Sukur added two more late on to give them a memorable win.

Turkey need to recover from stuffing

Turkey got off to just about the worst start imaginable in the opening match of Euro 2020 when they were comprehensively outclassed by Italy in Rome.

The defeat itself will not be worrying boss Senol Gunes but the manner of it certainly will.

"We were expecting a better performance," he said after the Italy defeat. "We fell short of our own standards of play, but the race continues, regardless of whether we lost or won."

His optimism is well-founded, in fairness. They won't have seen too much to fear from Wales or Switzerland so their fate is firmly still in their hands.

Turkey manager Senol Gunes was left with plenty to ponder

Turkey squad

Goalkeepers: Altay Bayindir, Fehmi Mert Gunok, Ugurcan Cakir

Defenders: Mehmet Zeki Celik, Caglar Soyuncu, Kaan Ayhan, Merih Demiral, Mert Muldur, Ozan Muhammed Kabak, Rıdvan Yılmaz, Cengiz Umut Meras

Midfielders: Yusuf Yazici, Dorukhan Tokoz, Irfan Can Kahveci, Okay Yokuslu, Orkun Kokcu, Ozan Tufan, Taylan Antalya, Hakan Calhanoglu

Forwards: Burak Yilmaz, Cengiz Under, Enes Unal, Efecan Karaca, Abdulkadir Omur, Muhammed Kerem Akturkoglu, Halil Ibrahim Dervisoglu, Kenan Karaman

Wales need improvement

There probably aren't many people who thought Wales weren't fairly fortunate to escape their Group A opener against Switzerland with a point.

Wales didn't create many chances and the Swiss were wasteful with theirs. Of course, no one will remember that. The result was all that mattered.

It seems unlikely that Wales will bet lucky again, though, and they will need to be much sharper if they want to secure the win they are probably going to need against Turkey.

The historical over-reliance on Gareth Bale is probably still there, although he is not as well equipped to carry them as he once was.

Wales squad

Goalkeepers: Wayne Hennessey, Danny Ward, Adam Davies

Defenders: Connor Roberts, Neco Williams, Chris Gunter, Joe Rodon, Ethan Ampadu, Chris Mepham, Ben Cabango, Ben Davies, Rhys Norrington-Davies, Tom Lockyer

Midfielders: Joe Allen, Joe Morrell, Matthew Smith, Jonny Williams, Aaron Ramsey, Dylan Levitt, Rubin Colwill, Harry Wilson

Forwards: Daniel James, David Brooks, Tyler Roberts, Gareth Bale, Kieffer Moore

International head-to-head

Turkey wins: 2

Draws: 1

Wales wins: 3

Goalscorer bets

It was Kiefer Moore, not Bale, who was Wales' biggest threat in their opener and he is likely to reprise that role again.

Wales tend to provide good service from wide areas and that will play right into the strengths of the Cardiff City striker, who is 10/3 to score the first goal.

Turkey are heavily reliant on Burak Yilmaz. He is 11/4 for the first goal, but the set-piece threat of Hakan Calhanoglu should not be ignored either, especially with odds of 21/4.