Alanyaspor and Hatayspor will be looking to continue their unbeaten start to the season when they go head to head in round three of the Super Lig on Sunday.
The Star of the South's last two league visits to the Bahcesehir Okullari Arena have ended in 6-0 defeats and they will head into the weekend looking to end this poor run.
Match preview
Alanyaspor were sent crashing back to earth in the new Super Lig campaign as they were held to a goalless draw by newly-promoted Rizespor when the sides squared off last Saturday.
Despite finishing the game with 10 men, following Oguz Aydin's 67th-minute red card, Alanyaspor held their own to leave the Caykur Didi Stadium with a hard-fought point.
Prior to that, Omer Erdogan's men kicked off the season with a 2-1 victory against Istanbul Basaksehir on August 14, when goals from Joao Novais and Carlos Eduardo handed the Grey Owls an opening-day defeat.
With last week's result, Alanyaspor have now failed to win five of their last six matches across all competitions, including each of their final four games in pre-season, where they picked up two draws and suffered defeats against Antalyaspor and Dordrecht respectively.
Hatayspor, on the other hand, failed to make it two wins from their opening two games of the season as they were held to a goalless draw by Kasimpasa last Saturday.
In a drab affair at the Mersin Stadium, both sides were guilty of lacking a cutting edge in the final third as they failed to pose any serious threat against each other before settling for a share of the spoils.
This followed a resounding 5-1 victory over newly-promoted Pendikspor in the league opener on August 13 courtesy of goals from Gorkem Saglam, Carlos Strandberg, Bertug Yildirim and a brace from Oluwafisayo Dele-Bashiru.
Hatayspor's solid start to the season has been in keeping with their performance in pre-season, where they went unbeaten in four of their five friendly matches — claiming three wins and one draw — with a 4-0 loss to Napoli on July 29 being the exception.
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Team News
Alanyaspor will take to the pitch without Aydin, who will serve the first of his three-match suspension after picking up a straight red last weekend.
On the injury front, Erdogan will be unable to call upon the midfield duo of Zinedine Ferhat and Emircan Altinas, who continue their spells on the sidelines.
Arnaud Lusamba, who made 28 league appearances last season, will play no part for the hosts after recently completing a loan move to Pendikspor.
As for Hatayspor, Nikola Maksimovic is yet to make an appearance this year through a long-term injury and is out of contention for Sunday's game.
He is joined on the club's injury table by 23-year-old goalkeeper Abdullah Yigiter, who has been out of action since coming off injured in March's 4-2 victory against Manisa FK.
Alanyaspor possible starting lineup:
Taskiran; Augusto, Bayir, Aliti, Ozdemir; Novais, Janvier, Coelho; Eduardo, Silva; Karaca
Hatayspor possible starting lineup:
Kardesler; Corekci, Kilama, Bekaroglu, Aksoy; Dele-Bashiru, Aburjania, Saglam; Yildirim, Strandberg, Fernandes
We say: Alanyaspor 2-1 Hatayspor
The last four meetings between Alanyaspor and Hatayspor have produced a combined 16 goals and we anticipate another thrilling contest filled with plenty of goalmouth action. Alanyaspor's home advantage makes them slight favourites and we fancy them coming away with a narrow victory.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Joshua Ojele
