Liverpool have never won away to a Turkish side in the Champions League, and Dirk Kuyt is in Fenerbahçe’s dugout tonight
Andoni Iraola’s side have won all three league-phase games, but their six European Cup and Champions League trips to Turkish clubs have brought one draw and five defeats.
Nov 4, 2026
Dirk Kuyt played 285 games for Liverpool. Tonight, only days into his spell as Fenerbahçe’s interim coach, he takes the Turkish club into a Champions League game against his old side. Kick-off in Istanbul is at 11:15pm IST.
The clubs have never met before, and on paper it looks one-sided. Liverpool have won all three of their league-phase games. Fenerbahçe have two points and have just changed coach. But Liverpool’s record in Turkey is bad enough to make this more interesting than the table suggests.
Kuyt’s first week in charge
Kuyt came back to Fenerbahçe this summer as İsmail Kartal’s assistant. Kartal resigned after a bad run that took in defeats to Beşiktaş and Galatasaray and the 6-0 thrashing at Aston Villa, and the club put Kuyt in charge until a permanent appointment is made. His first game went badly, a 2-1 league defeat to Göztepe on Saturday.
He knows exactly what tonight is. “Everyone knows how much Fenerbahçe and Liverpool mean to me,” he said on Tuesday, before adding that Liverpool are an amazing team “but so are Fenerbahçe”. He played for both, joining Fenerbahçe from Anfield in 2012.
Europe has been hard going for his new club. They drew 1-1 with Roma and 2-2 with Slavia Prague at home, and in between came that night at Villa Park. Fenerbahçe have now gone ten games without a win in the European Cup and Champions League, the longest run in their history, according to Opta. Marco Asensio (knee) and Jayden Oosterwolde are out, and Kojo Peprah Oppong and Nathan Aké are also injured.
Liverpool’s Turkish problem
Liverpool have played six away games against Turkish clubs in the European Cup and Champions League and have not won one. They drew one and lost five. Their last four trips to Turkey all ended in defeat, including two 1-0 losses to Galatasaray last season. They did beat Galatasaray 4-0 at Anfield in the second leg of the round of 16 in March, but that was in Liverpool.
Andoni Iraola’s side are scoring freely in Europe. They beat Atlético Madrid 2-1, won 6-3 at LASK and came from behind to beat Villarreal 4-3, and Opta says their 12 goals are Liverpool’s best return after three games of a European Cup campaign since 1980-81. The league form is the worry. They lost 1-0 at home to Arsenal on Sunday without a shot on target and are fifth in the Premier League, nine points off the top.
Ryan Gravenberch has a heel injury and did not travel. Jeremie Frimpong, Conor Bradley, Giovanni Leoni and Hugo Ekitike are also out, and Federico Chiesa and Wataru Endo are not in the Champions League squad. Iraola was respectful about the opposition. “Fenerbahçe is a team that has very good players,” he said.
What to expect
Opta’s model gives Liverpool a 59 per cent chance of winning, with the draw at 21.5 per cent and a Fenerbahçe win at 19.5. That sounds about right to me. Liverpool have more quality all over the pitch, and Fenerbahçe have conceded nine goals in three Champions League games. Put that defence up against Liverpool’s attack and it is hard to see them keeping a clean sheet.
But I wouldn’t be surprised if this is closer than people expect. Fenerbahçe have drawn their last three home games in Europe, the crowd will be loud for Kuyt’s first European night as their coach, and Liverpool are coming off a home defeat in which they did not test the keeper once. My pick is a narrow Liverpool win. A draw would not shock me.