Kayserispor host high-flying Adana Demirspor at the Kadir Has Sehir Stadi in the Turkish Super Lig, knowing a victory would extend their winning run to three games and place them level on points with the visitors on Sunday afternoon.
Demirspor occupy second in the league standings heading into this clash, and will be searching for a maximum that could put them back at the summit of Turkey's top flight as the World Cup break fast approaches.
Match preview
After an inconsistent start to the campaign in which the club alternated between victory and defeat for the first six games, Kayserispor have only lost one of their last six league games, closing the gap between themselves and the coveted European places to only two points with 11 matches played so far.
A resilient performance on the road earned Cagdas Atan's men all three points last weekend, with a first-half goal from forward Mame Thiam being enough to defeat Kasimpasa, despite the hosts that day having five times as many shots on target as the visitors.
Kayserispor now face arguably a tougher task in Demirspor but will take confidence from their impressive home record so far this campaign, having won four of their five outings in front of their supporters in Kayseri, with only leaders Fenerbahce and Istanbul Basaksehir taking more points from their home matches.
Only five points separate first to eighth in what is an extremely competitive Super Lig, especially at the top end of the table, and Kayserispor may be wondering if a best-placed finish since fifth in the 2012-13 season is on the cards if the side can keep up this solid form over the course of the year.
Enjoying their first stint in the top flight since the 1990s, Adana Demirspor are doing more than just taking in the sights and instead fighting for the European places - and perhaps the league title - with all of Turkey's traditional big clubs.
Vincenzo Montella's men led the way at the top of the standings until a stalemate with Konyaspor last weekend allowed Fenerbahce to overtake them, something that will not frustrate supporters too much considering Adana are still on a remarkable nine-game unbeaten run in all competitions.
No one has taken more points or scored more goals on their travels than Demirspor so far this campaign, with only a failure to convert home draws into victories keeping them from attaining a commanding and unprecedented lead at the top of the Turkish Super Lig.
The club's success this season is no accident, with Demirspor acquiring top talent from rival teams to fuel their lofty ambitions such as former Galatasaray attacker Younes Belhanda, who has provided seven goal contributions in 11 appearances so far this campaign.
Team News
Kayserispor have no fresh injury concerns ahead of Sunday but will remain without Arif Kocaman (groin) and Nurettin Korkmaz (cruciate ligament), with the latter unlikely to feature in any matches this season due to the severity of his ligament damage.
Long-term absentee Joseph Attamah is no closer to returning to action, having last played in his side's Turkish Cup final defeat to Sivasspor all the way back in May.
Demirspor will be without Ukrainian defender Yaroslav Rakitskiy as he collected his fourth booking of the season in the draw with Konyaspor last time out, meaning he will serve a single-game suspension.
Rakitskiy's most likely replacement is 27-year-old Semih Guler, who would be making only his third league start of the season if he were to partner Samet Akaydin in the middle of the backline.
Kayserispor possible starting lineup:
Bayazit; Bulut, Hosseini, Kolovetsios, Carole; Campanharo, Civelek, Kemen, Mensah, Cardoso; Thiam
Adana Demirspor possible starting lineup:
Ozbir; Svensson, Akaydin, Guler, Rodrigues; Stambouli, Ndiaye, David, Akbaba, Onyekuru; Belhanda
We say: Kayserispor 1-2 Adana Demirspor
This fixture sees a clash between two in-form sides only separated by three points, metrics that point towards a tight encounter on Sunday afternoon.
Demirspor have averaged over two goals per game on their travels this season, and if they are able to score near that mean in this one, they should be able to take away all three points to continue their fairytale start to this Super Lig campaign.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Carter White
