Besiktas will look to continue their positive start to the 2024-25 Turkish Super Lig season when they take on Antalyaspor at Tupras Stadyumu on Sunday evening.
The hosts won their opening match of the season 2-0 away to Samsunspor, while the visitors played out a goalless draw at home against newly promoted Goztepe.
Match preview
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After finishing in sixth place and over 40 points behind the top two teams last season, Besiktas look like they mean business this term and sit atop the league standings after the first gameweek.
With such a huge gap to the league leaders, the Black Eagles' 2023-24 season would have been a complete nightmare had they not won the Turkish Cup to gain entry to the upcoming Europa League.
However, they have made a very promising start to this season, kicking off with a resounding 5-0 win over Galatasaray in the Super Cup before last week's win over Samsunspor, which was the only match in the opening week that ended with a two-goal margin.
Rafa has caught the eye in the early stages of the campaign, netting in both games so far, while fellow new signing Ciro Immobile bagged a brace in the win over Gala at the start of the month.
Indeed, Giovanni van Bronckhorst is loving life in Istanbul since arriving in July, and he will now be aiming to help his side avenge the 2-1 defeat they conceded when they faced this opponent back in March.
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Meanwhile, Antalyaspor had another steady top-flight campaign in 2023-24, as they secured a top-half spot with 49 points, including a record of 12 wins, 12 draws and 13 losses in their 38 games.
However, they ended last season fairly poorly, winning only one of their final five league matches, and a 0-0 draw at home to newly promoted opponents last week was far from an ideal start to the new campaign.
Additionally, the Scorpions' pre-season did little to suggest they are likely to trouble the sides near the top, as they lost both their friendlies, 3-2 to Akron and 1-0 against Sivasspor a week later.
Alex, who took on the role of head coach during the offseason, has plenty of work to do with his new side and will now try to get them back in the win column on the road after the side failed to secure a victory in their last four away league games, during which they conceded 11 goals and scored just three.
Team News
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Besiktas are missing two players from the outset this season, with left-back Emrecan Terzi and winger Arda Kilic both sidelined for a few more weeks due to a knee and ankle injury respectively.
The Black Eagles have wasted no time integrating their new recruits with Rafa, Ciro Immobile, Gabriel Paulista and Moatasem Al-Musrati all starting last week and likely to feature again in this one.
For the visitors, Bunyamin Balci sustained a serious ankle injury in April last year and is still a few weeks away from returning to full fitness. He is ruled out for this weekend's trip.
Thalisson made an impressive debut against Goztepe last week and should keep his place alongside Veysel Sari and Amar Gerxhaliu in the defensive trio.
Besiktas possible starting lineup:
Gunok; Svensson, Paulista, Colley, Masuaku; Fernandes, Elmsurati; Silicsoy, Rafa, Rashica; Immobile
Antalyaspor possible starting lineup:
Arican; Thalisson, Sari, Gerxhaliu, Vural; Dikmen, Rakip, Larsson, Van de Streek, Djenepo; Yesilyurt
We say: Besiktas 3-1 Antalyaspor
Besiktas have had a very good transfer window and have assembled a squad that seem capable of challenging Fenerbahce and Galatasaray for the title this season. The Black Eagles were very impressive in their first away game last week and we feel they will follow up with an even better performance at home this weekend.
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