European football makes its return this week and will see Lokomotiv Moscow host Turkish powerhouse Galatasaray in the Europa League on Thursday.
Lokomotiv Moscow began their Europa League campaign with a 1-1 home draw against Olympique Marseille, a rather flattering result for the home team to say the least.
They then lost 2-0 to Lazio in their next game and were fortunate not to have seen a wider margin.
Lokomotiv Moscow sit at the bottom of the group with just one point. They will be looking to pick up their first win when they host Galatasaray on Thursday.
Galatasaray beat Lazio 1-0 in their first game via an own goal from goalkeeper Thomas Strakosha. They then played out a goalless draw against Olympique Marseille in their next game and are therefore unbeaten in the competition so far.
In contrast to their hosts, Galatasaray sit at the top of the table. They have picked up four points from two games and will be looking to increase that tally when they face Lokomotiv Moscow this week.
Lokomotiv Moscow vs Galatasaray Head-to-Head
There have been four meetings between Lokomotiv Moscow and Galatasaray in the past. Both teams have won two games apiece, with all the matchups coming in the Champions League.
The two sides last met in the group stages of the European competition back in 2018. Lokomotiv Moscow won the game 2-0.
Lokomotiv Moscow Form Guide (UEFA Europa League): L-D
Galatasaray Form Guide (UEFA Europa League): D-W
Lokomotiv Moscow vs Galatasaray Team News
Lokomotiv Moscow
Ze Luis, Anton Miranchuk, Maciej Rybus, Tin Jedvaj and Stanislav Magkeev are all unavailable due to injuries and are not expected to feature on Thursday.
Nayair Tiknizyan has served his suspension and is back in the squad.
Injured: Ze Luis, Anton Miranchuk, Maciej Rybus, Stanislav Magkeev, Tin Jedvaj
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
Galatasaray
Sacha Boey, Arda Turan and Omar Elabdellaoui have all been ruled out with injuries and will miss out on the game. Baris Yilmaz has recovered from his injury and could feature on Thursday.
Injured: Sacha Boey, Arda Turan, Omar Elabdellaoui
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
Lokomotiv Moscow vs Galatasaray Predicted XI
Lokomotiv Moscow Predicted XI (4-3-3): Guilherme Marinato; Dmitri Zhivoglyadov, Dmitriy Barinov, Pablo, Nayair Tiknizyan; Konstantin Maradishvili, Daniil Kulikov, Alexis Beka Beka; Gyrano Kerk, Francois Kamano, Fedor Smolov
Galatasaray Predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Fernando Muslera; DeAndre Yedlin, Marcao, Victor Nelsson, Patrick van Aanholt; Taylan Antalyalı, Berkan Kutlu; Kerem Aktürkoğlu, Alexandru Cicaldau, Olimpiu Moruțan; Halil Dervisoglu
Lokomotiv Moscow vs Galatasaray Prediction
Lokomotiv Moscow have been in rather abysmal form lately. They are winless in their last six games across all competitions and have failed to score in half of those matches.
Galatasaray, on the other hand, are on a four-game unbeaten run. They will be looking to pick up the win and pull away from the other teams in the group, and we expect them to do so.
Prediction: Lokomotiv Moscow 1-2 Galatasaray