Football Bet of the Day: Expect a Turkish tear-up to kick off the week

Trabzonspor have scored goals in all kinds of ways this season

Kevin Hatchard's back to take us around the football betting world, and we're starting with a familiar selection from Turkey.

Gaziantepspor v Trabzonspor
Monday March 16, 18:00

Last night's 0-0 draw between Ligue 1 title contenders Marseille and Lyon was gripping stuff, with plenty of incident and entertainment. Sadly such abstract concepts aren't enough to land an Over 2.5 Goals bet, so our good friend Tobias Gourlay was denied. No matter, TG still racked up five winners in the week, and now has ten in his last two weeks. Consider my cap doffed.

Right then, let's visit one of this column's firmest friends. We love a bit of Trabzonspor goal action, so we're popping over to Turkey to see their visit to Gaziantepspor.

The reason we like Trabzonspor so much is that they always play on the front foot under their enterprising coach Ersun Yanal, and that attitude leads to plenty of goals. The Black Sea Storm have rattled in 46 goals in the Turkish Super Lig, with only Bursaspor outscoring them. At the other end Trabzonspor aren't exactly watchful, having leaked 36 goals in 24 games.

Given those numbers, it won't surprise you to learn that 13 of Trabzonspor's last 15 league games have featured three goals or more, and the only times Yanal's men have failed to score in that sequence were in away games at title contenders Besiktas and Fenerbahce.

If Trabzonspor are the hilarious guy at the party who has side-splitting anecdotes for every occasion, Gaziantepspor are the man who tells you which motorway and A-roads he used to get to the party, before telling you about his three decades as a filing clerk. The Falcons have only scored 21 goals in the league, but it's their defensive record which gives us hope.

Gaziantepspor have kept just four clean sheets in their last 15 games, and they were hammered 5-0 at home by Fenerbahce a month ago. It's also worth noting that when they visited Trabzonspor earlier this season, they played out a remarkable 4-4 draw.

Over 2.5 Goals is trading at 1.84/5, and it's a price I'm more than happy to recommend.

Recommended Bet
Back Over 2.5 Goals at 1.84/5

2015 P/L (1 pt per bet)

Points Staked: 34

Points Returned: 33.48

P/L: -0.52 points