LIVE: Galatasaray faces Kocaelispor Challenge on beIN SPORTS 1
KOCAELİ, Türkiye – Galatasaray travels to Kocaelispor today, seeking to extend its dominant away form as the Super Lig match kicks off at 17:00 (local time) and airs live on beIN SPORTS 1. Yiğit Arslan will serve as the fourth referee.
The fixture presents a ancient challenge for Kocaelispor,who last defeated Galatasaray in a Super Lig match in Febuary 2009,winning 5-2 away. They have not secured back-to-back victories against the Istanbul giants. Galatasaray boasts the longest away winning streak in league history,having won their last six Super Lig matches played at Kocaelispor’s stadium.
Kocaelispor has struggled against Galatasaray when the latter is the reigning Super league champion, recording a D1 L8 record and only earning one point in a 1-1 draw in August 1997. Galatasaray, meanwhile, aims to continue a 10-match winning streak against newly promoted Super Lig teams, a club record.
Recent form shows Kocaelispor defeated Eyüpspor 1-0 in their last home match against an Istanbul team, but their last run of 2+ consecutive wins was between September 1997 and April 1998 (3 matches). Galatasaray is currently riding a nine-match away win streak, part of a longer run of 17 consecutive away wins achieved between January 2024 and January 2025 under manager Okan Buruk - the longest in league history.
Statistically,Galatasaray has scored the most second-half goals in the Super Lig this season (14),while Kocaelispor has conceded 73% of their goals in the second half (11/15). Galatasaray has scored at least one goal in the second half of all 11 away matches as May 1993.
Key players to watch include Tayfur Bingöl, who aims to equal his career-best goal tally of five, and Leroy Sane, who has directly contributed to half of Galatasaray’s last eight away goals (3 goals & 1 assist). Gabriel Sara leads Galatasaray in shot-creating actions, averaging a shot pass every 26 minutes played (728 minutes; 28 shot passes) – the most by a Galatasaray player since Opta began detailed data collection in the 2014/15 season.
