Vincenzo Montella with have to work his magic to find Turkey’s best line-up to face Austria in the last-16 of Euro 2024.
Tuesday’s game comes after a dramatic, bad-tempered Group F finale which saw Turkey qualify as runners-up courtesy of a last-minute Cenk Tosun goal while picking up 11 yellow cards against a team reduced to nine men at the final whistle.
The result of which is the absence of captain Hakan Calhanoglu and defender Samet Akaydin in Leipzig with a further ten players at risk of being banned for a potential quarter-final if they get booked.
It isn’t like the Turks have been enjoying a settled line-up through the tournament so far either, having blown hot and cold to lead to coach Montella making eight changes for the win over the Czechs off the back of a 3-0 loss to Portugal.
Mert Gunok should get the nod in goal having played two of the three group games and the full-back positions occupied by Mert Muldur and Ferdi Kadioglu are as settled as any in this team.
Akaydin has been an ever-present up until this point but his suspension does, at least, coincide with Abdulkerim Bardakci returning from his own ban, meaning the scorer of an embarrassing own goal against Portugal should return against Austria.
The absence of Inter midfielder Calhanoglu, who scored the opening goal on Wednesday night, will be keenly felt with Orkun Kokcu a prime candidate to replace him.
Montella went with youthful wingers Arda Guler and Kenan Yildiz in Turkey’s last match but they struggled to create and the comparative experience of Kerem Akturkoglu or Irfan Kahveci could be favoured.
Predicted Turkey XI: Gonuk; Muldur, Bardakci, Demiral, Kadioglu; Ozcan, Yuksek; Guler, Kocku, Akturkoglu; Yilmaz
Suspensions: Calhanoglu, Akaydin
Time and date: 8pm BST, Sunday July 2, 2024
Venue: Red Bull Arena, Leipzig
TV channel: ITV1
