Relegation-threatened Alanyaspor host Samsunspor in the Turkish Super Lig at the Alanya Oba Stadium on Christmas Day, seeking to move further away from danger.
Both sides, who have identical records in recent gameweeks, are separated by three points in the table before the round 18 encounter.
Match preview
Fatih Tekke's Alanyaspor were in the league's bottom four places a few weeks back, but two victories in as many games have catapulted them to 15th in the standings heading into Monday's fixture.
Despite taking charge of the home side at the start of November, Tekke could not inspire an immediate turnaround as the Alanya-based club fell to three straight losses against Kayserispor, Gaziantep and Galatasaray.
Tekke's men have built on a 2-2 draw against Konyaspor to start this month, with that point followed by three victories in all competitions, including a 1-0 triumph over Istanbulspor and a shock 3-1 victory at Besiktas in their recent fixture.
That win in Istanbul led to the rise to 15th place, but losing on Monday could immediately see Alanyaspor slip into the danger zone, briefly undoing the team's recent good work.
Thus, continuing that sequence of results against gameweek 18's opponents will be just what the doctor ordered for Tekke and his side.
As for Samsunspor, they share an identical record of seven points from an available nine with their hosts but remain in 18th, albeit three points from escaping the bottom four positions.
There remains a feeling that Markus Gisdol's men leave the relegation zone sooner or later owing to the team's improvement under the German boss since his October arrival.
The Red Lightning could only play out a goalless encounter in the 54-year-old's first encounter at Istanbul Basaksehir, but the club from Samsun have won five of nine in all competitions, losing just three games in two months.
They were on a three-match winning run in all competitions until the league's hiatus slowed the team's momentum in the lead-up to Thursday's 1-1 draw with Konyaspor.
Samsunspor have been undefeated in the league since November 26, and Gisdol's troops hope to make it five games without losing in all competitions (four in the Super Lig) when they take on Alanyaspor on December 25.
Team News
Apart from Anderson Silva, who was not expected to play a pivotal role, Tekke has no other injury concerns before Monday's fixture.
Alanyaspor are expected to start in a 4-2-3-1, with five-goal man Joao Novais playing in the hole behind Efecan Karaca.
The visitors' injury woes mean they are without Zeki Yavru, Bedirhan Cetin, Nanu, Youssef Ait Bennasser, Gaetan Laura, Taylan Antalyali and Kingsley Schindler on Monday, thus reducing the options available to Gisdol.
Mickael Tirpan is suspended for the gameweek 18 fixture after picking up a booking in the 1-1 draw with Konyaspor.
Alanyaspor possible starting lineup:
Taskiran; Augusto, Lima, Aliti, Ozdemir; Fer, Richard; Aydin, Novais, Eduardo; Karaca
Samsunspor possible starting lineup:
Kocuk; Bola, Satka, Ozturk, Gonul; Celik, Tait; Holse, Ntcham, Kilinc; Mouandilmadji
We say: Alanyaspor 2-2 Samsunspor
Despite Samsunspor's injury worries, Monday's game could end in a tie, with both in-form sides possibly cancelling each other out in Alanya.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
