Turkish Super Lig Round 5 brings second placed Besiktas up against 15th placed BB Erzurumspor at Tüpraş Stadyumu on 11 September 2026. Besiktas have nine points from four matches and sit just behind the leaders after a strong opening run that included a 2-1 derby win over Fenerbahçe, while Erzurumspor have managed only four points and a goal difference of minus six. Besiktas need to sustain domestic momentum alongside their Europa League commitments, whereas Erzurumspor need points before the fixture list tightens and the table becomes harder to escape.
Vincenzo Italiano took the Besiktas job on 6 June 2026, replacing Sergen Yalçın, while Serkan Özbalta has been in charge of Erzurumspor since around 5 August 2025, replacing Hakan Kutlu. They have never met as head coaches before.
Besiktas have won three of their last four league outings, the only blemish being a 1-0 defeat to Alanyaspor on 23 August. The headline result was the narrow 2-1 win over Fenerbahçe on 5 September, which came after a comfortable 6-2 demolition of Çorum FK on 31 August. A Europa League playoff loss to Kauno Žalgiris on 27 August forced some rotation but Besiktas have still managed to score freely when fielding their stronger side.
Erzurumspor's recent form is harder to put a positive spin on. A 1-0 win over Konyaspor on 5 September ended a run of three games without a win but that result came sandwiched between a 1-1 draw with Gençlerbirliği and heavy defeats to Galatasaray (0-4) and Amed Sportif (0-3). Conceding first seems to unravel them quickly and nothing in those results suggests that will change on Friday.
Besiktas will be without Rıdvan Yılmaz through injury, leaving the left flank less active going forward. Erzurumspor are missing Elisha Owusu, which is a real problem: he was the main ball winner in front of the back line and his absence opens a hole between the lines that Kökçü and Vlahović will look to find. Both squads are otherwise intact, though Besiktas's European rotation means several players are fresher than they might otherwise be, whereas Erzurumspor's limited squad depth may force Özbalta to field the same starters who have already racked up heavy minutes.
Italiano's Besiktas press high with a deep defensive line and clear pressing triggers, looking to win the ball in advanced areas. Their 4-1-4-1 shape has Orkun Kökçü dictating those triggers and switching play early, with Václav Černý and Leandro Trossard working the flanks and Dušan Vlahović alternating between dropping short to link play and staying central to attack crosses. Salih Özcan anchors the midfield behind them, freeing the full backs to push forward.
Özbalta's Erzurumspor work from a compact 5-4-1 built around set pieces and quick transitions. Eren Tozlu leads their counter attacks with Martín Rodríguez offering creativity from midfield, while Brandon Baiye and Mustafa Yumlu form the defensive spine, though that spine now has a notable hole between the lines without Owusu.
The Kökçü and Rodríguez matchup is where the game could turn. Rodríguez is the one player capable of carrying Erzurumspor out of their half and into transition and Kökçü's pressing role means he will be the one tasked with cutting that off. How Yumlu handles Vlahović's movement matters too: Vlahović's tendency to pull wide or drop deep drags the centre back out of position and creates space centrally for runners arriving late. If Trossard drifts inside he will pull Erzurumspor's wing backs narrow, opening the right channel for Černý and Besiktas's high press should limit Erzurumspor's time on the ball enough to make those transitions difficult to build.
Besiktas hold three wins and one draw from six meetings against Erzurumspor, with the visitors winning twice. Besiktas have won the last two league encounters and Erzurumspor have rarely troubled them at home in recent years even when defending well.
Kökçü and Trossard will look to find Vlahović or arriving midfielders in dangerous positions from set pieces and Erzurumspor's compact shape may struggle to cope with sustained delivery into the box. Erzurumspor will also look to dead ball situations as one of their better routes to goal, given how little they have created from open play this season, though their record offers no real reason to think they can cause Besiktas serious trouble from corners or long throws.
Besiktas beat Kauno Žalgiris 3-0 in midweek and while that adds a layer of fatigue, it also showed they can rotate and still perform. Erzurumspor arrive fresher but have not shown the quality to punish any drop in Besiktas's intensity and the fixture list does them no favours on that front.
Besiktas 2-0 BB Erzurumspor. Erzurumspor held their shape for long periods against Gençlerbirliği and Konyaspor but both those games were scoreless until late and Erzurumspor came apart once they conceded. The same pattern looks likely here. Owusu's absence leaves them without a reliable ball winner in the middle, Besiktas's high press should prevent them building the transitions they need and they have scored only twice in four games with a full squad. A clean sheet looks the likelier outcome and a second goal probably follows once Erzurumspor are forced to open up.
Ryan Baldi
Football Writer
Ryan Baldi is a professional football writer with years of experience and has been featured by respected outlets such as the BBC, The Guardian, Sky Sports, DAZN, FourFourTwo, ESPN, Yahoo Sport and Football365. He has also written several books including Arsène Who?.
