Sofa are slightly quicker than Sipahi. It's 1.75 versus 1.73. So technically, you can chase them down. It just takes a really long time.

And then if we ever get to castle, I would say Malians look best there with the archer Sofa combo. But if we get to Imperial, it's always that Janissary threat.

Probably best to just immediately go for a lot of cattle and try and match your opponent's additional food and come that way.

Ottomans are probably the best anti-cavalry civilization in the game with the Janissary, but as long as you avoid the Janissaries or prevent their numbers from reaching critical mass, you can really cause a lot of damage with the Sofa.

Castle age is where Ottomans are actually the weakest; pressuring them in castle age could be the way into the game.