Galatasaray v St Johnstone Betting Tips [5 August 2021]

It's not been a good season so far for Scottish clubs in Europe. Celtic are out of the Champions League (and now in the Europa League), while Rangers lost the first leg of their Champions League tie at Malmo. Now it's the turn of St Johnstone in the Europa League but they face a tough two-legged tie against Galatasaray. The first leg is in Turkey and the home side will be hoping for better luck than in the Champions League. They lost to PSV in the second qualifying round, losing 7-2 on aggregate. The away first leg saw them lose 5-1 and the second leg in Turkey was lost 2-1. The winners of this tie take on Randers in the play-off round, so not too bad a draw. Galatasaray have only lost two of their last ten home games, so this won't be easy for their opponents.

St Johnstone last played in European competition in the 2017/18 season. They made it through to the Europa League by winning the Scottish Cup last season. Previous appearances in European competition haven't gone too well. Their last two appearances both ended with a defeat in the first qualifying round. You have to go back to the 1972/73 season for their best performance when getting to the third round of the UEFA Cup. St Johnstone got their new Scottish Premiership season off to a slow start with a goalless draw at Ross County.  Including friendlies, they have had three 0-0 draws in their last four matches. They have played 12 away games in Europe and are still waiting for their first victory. The wait can go on a bit longer, back Galatasaray to get the win here.