Wales v Turkey Competition - Nations League, Group H Venue - Cardiff City Stadium Date - 6 September 2024 Kick off - 7:45pm Craig Bellamy has named his first Wales line-up and it looks like he's starting with a back four in what could be a 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3. Tottenham's Brennan Johnson appears to be leading the attack, while winger Sorba Thomas - on loan at Nantes from Huddersfield Town - gets a surprise start having been recalled to the squad by Bellamy. The rest of the team is as you'd expect, with Aaron Ramsey returning as captain. Wales: Ward; Roberts, Rodon, B. Davies, Williams; Ampadu, J. James; Wilson, Ramsey, Thomas; Johnson. Subs: Darlow, A. Davies, Cabango, Beck, Crew, Sheehan, Colwill, Harris, Koumas, Moore Turkey are without a handful of players through injury, including new Brighton and Hove Albion full-back Ferdi Kadioglu. Inter Milan midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu, Turkey's captain as they reached the Euro 2024 quarter-finals, is only on the bench due to fitness concerns. That's a relief for Wales - Calhanoglu was among the Ballon d'Or nominees revealed this week. But there's a start for Real Madrid's Arda Guler, who scored an excellent goal when Turkey beat Wales 2-0 last year. Turkey: Gunok; Celik, Soyuncu, Bardakci, Muldur; Ayhan, Yuksek, Kokcu; Guler, Yildiz, Yilmaz. Subs: Bayindir, Cakir, Akaydin, Yokuslu, Akturkoglu, Calhanoglu, Topcu, Ozcan, Kahveci, Nayir, Uzun, Dinkci Wales are without a number of attacking players who would have been in contention to start tonight, with Leeds United winger Daniel James withdrawing from the squad due to a hamstring issue. Rabbi Matondo and Liam Cullen have also dropped out having been called up by Craig Bellamy, while David Brooks, Nathan Broadhead and Wes Burns were not considered due to injury issues. Defender Chris Mepham is with the squad, but is suspended for tonight's game after his sending-off in the Euro 2024 play-off final against Poland. Turkey are without full-back Ferdi Kadioglu, who signed for Brighton and Hove Albion after impressing at Euro 2024, while Rangers’ Ridvan Yilmaz and Ozan Kabak of Hoffenheim are also missing with injuries. Bournemouth forward Enes Unal is another absentee. As for a prediction, I’m going 1-1
Thought Wales played some really positive football. Just need to find a way to score these chances. Deserved to win that game - not a bad start for Bellamy.
