Fenerbahce vs Liverpool: Preview, Lineups & Analysis
Updated November 3, 2026
Updated November 3, 2026
Liverpool head to Istanbul on Wednesday with a perfect Champions League record, but the Reds have never won there in five attempts.
Andoni Iraola’s side are third in the league phase with 9 points, though they arrive on the back of a 1-0 home defeat to Arsenal on Sunday.
Fenerbahce are in a mess. They’re still looking for their first Champions League win in 18 years, lost 6-0 at Aston Villa last month, and are now under interim boss Dirk Kuyt. The former Liverpool forward scored 71 goals in 285 games for the Reds, but his first game in charge ended in a 2-1 defeat to Goztepe.
Out: Jayden Oosterwolde (hamstring), Marco Asensio (knee), Amara Diouf (muscle)
Doubts: Nathan Ake (hamstring), Kojo Oppong (undisclosed)
What Changes: With Oosterwolde and Ake both officially missing, and Oppong now highly doubtful, Fenerbahce's defensive depth is severely compromised.
Milan Skriniar is left without his primary centre-back partners, which will likely force interim head coach Dirk Kuyt to start youngster Yigit Efe Demir at the back. On the positive side, Greenwood’s recovery from illness ensures that Fenerbahce retains its most dangerous attacking threat.
Out: Jeremie Frimpong (hamstring), Giovanni Leoni (ACL)
Not registered: Wataru Endo and Federico Chiesa
What Changes: Iraola is expected to bring Ryan Gravenberch back into midfield in place of Trey Nyoni, who impressed against Arsenal at the weekend.
Kostas Tsimikas should replace Milos Kerkez at left-back and Rio Ngumoha steps in for Cody Gakpo on the left.
Dominik Szobozslai and Victor Munoz are available for selection, but both are still working their way back from injury and are unlikely to
GK: Ederson
DEF: Semedo, Skriniar, Brown, Mercan
MID: Kante, Guendouzi; Greenwood, Kahveci, Aydin
ATT: Lukaku
GK: Alisson
DEF: Araujo, Jacquet, Van Dijk, Tsimikas
MID: Gravenberch, Mac Allister; Barcola, Wirtz, Ngumoha
ATT: Isak
Kuyt has a big call to make up front. Vedat Muriqi is Fenerbahce’s top scorer with seven league goals from 4.28 xG, despite playing just 428 minutes. He’s a huge threat in the air, with 11 of his 21 shots coming from headers. Romelu Lukaku, meanwhile, has scored five times against Liverpool in his career.
The problem for Fenerbahce is who they’re up against. Virgil van Dijk has won 36 of his 44 aerial duels in the Premier League this season (81.8%), which puts him in the 95th percentile among centre-backs, and he’s played every minute. Jeremy Jacquet hasn’t been tested in the air as often, but he’s won 73.1% of his aerial duels and 69.5% of all his duels. Muriqi, by comparison, wins half of his headers.
That partnership is a big reason why Liverpool are yet to concede a set-piece goal in the Premier League. If Fenerbahce’s plan is to cross for Muriqi or Lukaku, they’ll need far better service than usual.
Wirtz is Liverpool’s chief creator, with 22 chances created in the league, the most in the squad. He’s still waiting on his first Premier League goal, though, and hit the crossbar against Arsenal.
That’s a bigger problem than it looks. Liverpool have created just 12 big chances in nine league games, the second-fewest in the division.
N’Golo Kante and Matteo Guendouzi will try to sit deep and cut off the space between the lines. If Wirtz can’t find a way through, Liverpool could be in for a frustrating night.
Alexander Isak has six Premier League goals from 4.35 xG, and he’s been clinical, putting 9 of his 22 shots on target.
He comes up against a defence missing two centre-backs, which conceded six at Villa Park last month and threw away a 2-0 lead against Slavia Prague in its last Champions League game.
Kuyt is expected to stick with a 4-2-3-1, with N’Golo Kante and Matteo Guendouzi sitting in front of a patched-up back four. Their job is to protect Skriniar and whoever partners him, and stop Liverpool playing through the middle.
Irfan Can Kahveci is the key man between the lines. When Fenerbahce win the ball, expect them to go wide quickly and get crosses in for Lukaku or Muriqi rather than build slowly.
There’s also talk of a switch to a 4-3-3 to get another attacker on the pitch, but that would leave the centre-backs far more exposed.
Iraola’s Liverpool attack down the flanks. They average 19 crosses a game, well above the Premier League average of 15, with Barcola and Ngumoha stretching the pitch and the full-backs overlapping.
The problem is quality. Liverpool rank 15th in the league for accurate crosses per game (3.6), which helps explain why they’ve created so few big chances.
Against a Fenerbahce side likely to sit deep, Wirtz finding pockets inside will matter more than the volume of balls into the box.
The midfield battle decides this one. If Kante can cut off Mac Allister’s first forward pass, Liverpool will be forced wide and into the crossing game that hasn’t worked for them domestically.
If Liverpool get Wirtz on the ball facing goal, a Fenerbahce defence missing two centre-backs could fall apart quickly, just as it did at Villa Park.
Key Metric (2026/27, domestic data ) | Fenerbahce | Liverpool |
|---|---|---|
xG per game | 2.05 | 1.47 |
xG conceded per game | 1.28 | 1.18 |
Goals conceded per game | 1.0 | 1.0 |
Big chances created per game | 4.1 | 1.3 |
Shots on target per game | 6.7 | 4.3 |
Average possession | 54.7% | 53.6% |
Possession won in final third per game | 3.6 | 3.7 |
Clean sheets | 5 | 4 |
Fenerbahce’s domestic numbers look healthy, but they’ve come against Super Lig opposition. In Europe, it’s a different story, with no wins and six goals conceded in one night at Villa Park.
Liverpool’s numbers point to a side that’s hard to beat but struggling to create. They’re averaging 1.3 big chances a game in the Premier League, and haven’t scored from a set piece all season.
Europe has been different, though. Liverpool have scored 12 goals in three Champions League games, but conceded seven.
Player | Goals | Assists | xG | xA | Chances created |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Vedat Muriqi (FEN) | 7 | 1 | 4.28 | 0.50 | 3 |
Mason Greenwood (FEN) | 4 | 2 | 5.19 | 1.72 | 14 |
Alexander Isak (LIV) | 6 | 0 | 4.35 | 0.27 | 7 |
Florian Wirtz (LIV) | 0 | 2 | 1.5 | 1.1 | 22 |
Liverpool’s Champions League games have been wild. They beat Atletico Madrid 2-1, won 6-3 in Linz and came from 2-0 down to beat Villarreal 4-3.
That’s 19 goals in three games, and Liverpool haven’t kept a clean sheet in Europe yet. Away from home in all competitions, they’re unbeaten this season, with four wins and a draw.
Fenerbahce have gone nine Champions League games without a win, and the 6-0 defeat at Villa was their heaviest loss in any competition in 34 years.
They do score at home, though. Both of their home league phase games have ended in draws, 1-1 against Roma and 2-2 against Slavia Prague.
ATS Expert Verdict
“Liverpool's European games have been chaotic, and they have been as leaky at the back as they have been incisive going forward. The hosts, meanwhile, have scored in both of their home Champions League matches. Expect goals at both ends in Istanbul. My pick is both teams to score at 62¢ on Polymarket.”
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