- Inter Turku have the better recent form but have been tough to crack at home this season.
- Basaksehir have a possession-heavy style but Inter have a good counter-attacking threat.
- Both teams are in decent nick overall, with Basaksehir having 5 wins, 3 draws and 2 defeats in their last 10 in all competitions, while Inter Turku are unbeaten in 10 (4 wins, 6 draws) in the same timeframe.
Side with the hosts to stay in contention
FC Inter Turku and Istanbul Basaksehir FK enter Thursday's UEFA Conference League Qualification return leg level on aggregate at 1-1 from last week's first leg, so the match looks finely poised.
The stats and overall quality of both sides suggests the Turkish visitors are the more likely winners, but they are 17/25 on the bookies with the Finns at 389/100, so the market is not on our side.
Inter are a compact, counter-punching unit that Vesa Vasara has had well drilled since taking over in January 2024. The evidence of their first-leg performance against a higher-quality team shows that they know how to clog up the middle third and keep games tight.
Both teams to score: No is the angle in Finland
Alie Conteh leads the goalscoring in this competition for the hosts with 2 goals in 3 games, but also has 3 in his last 5 matches in all competitions, so he is their main threat.
Emin Bayram has given Basaksehir the advantage in UEFA Conference League Qualification with his goal in one match, while Nuri Şahin's men have the quality and possession to play a higher press and get into long periods of control.
This is a good clash in that respect as Basaksehir's 4-2-3-1/4-3-3 system should test Inter's 4-3-3 formation and their ability to sit in a compact block in the lower half of the pitch.
Inter are unbeaten in three home games in all competitions, picking up one win and two draws, and conceding just two goals in the process.
Basaksehir have 2 wins, 2 draws and 2 losses in their last six away games in all competitions, which tells us that the home side can nick something from this game.
Inter's last three results in all competitions show a 2-1 home win over FK Sarajevo, a 0-0 away draw with FF Jaro and last Thursday's 1-1 away draw with Basaksehir. It's a solid rather than spectacular run, but they have kept the engine ticking over.
Basaksehir's last five matches in all competitions read 2 wins, 2 draws and 1 loss, so they are not in their best form but should be able to travel to Finland with a bit of bite.
Their 1-1 away draw with SV Ried was followed by a 2-1 win away to Red Bull Salzburg and then Thursday's 1-1 draw with Inter, so they have experience of making life tough for their hosts.
Both are in good nick, but the first-leg score is a draw and there are no clear goals in this game, so we're going against both sides finding the net at a top odds of 93/100. If Inter can get on the break quickly down the wide channels, we could have a classic battle of control versus counter-attack on our hands on Thursday.
