The pick of the matches in the Turkish Super Lig this weekend will see Besiktas taking on Trabzonspor at Tupras Stadyumu on Sunday evening.
This could end up being a crucial match in the race to qualify for Europe next season between the hosts, who are currently in fourth place, and the visitors, who are ahead of them by a single point.
Match preview
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After finishing third and just two points behind second place last season, Besiktas have been unable to keep up with Fenerbahce and Galatasaray this season and enter gameweek 24 a massive 24 points behind the current league leaders.
Following a poor December, the Black Eagles opted to part ways with now-former manager Riza Calimbay, with ex-Portugal coach Fernando Santos being appointed as his successor early in the New Year.
The 69-year-old made a promising start to life in Istanbul, rattling off three consecutive wins in his first three games in charge, scoring an impressive 11 goals in that time while also maintaining clean sheets in each of those matches.
However, since beating Eyupspor 4-0 in the Turkish Cup in mid-January, issues the side faced earlier in the season have begun to resurface, and they head into this weekend's fixture winless in their last three matches.
During that time, Besiktas suffered a shock 4-0 loss to relegation contenders Pendikspor and failed to score in their next two matches as well, drawing 0-0 against Adana Demirspor and losing 1-0 away to Sivasspor in midweek.
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While Santos is still unbeaten at home (W1 D1 L0), his side have failed to beat Trabzonspor in their last six attempts (W0 D3 L3) and have been outscored by them 10-5 over that period.
Trabzonspor have certainly had their fair share of luck over the last few weeks, as they could easily have been pushed out of the top four, having lost each of their last three league matches.
In midweek, they took an early lead against Kasimpasa but were completely outplayed in the second half as their opponents hit back with three goals in the space of 25 minutes and held on to a 3-2 victory despite a late goal from Engin Yildirim.
Neither Besiktas nor fifth-placed Rizespor were able to capitalise on the Burgundy Blues' drop in form, though, and they could now be made to pay for it if the visitors pull off a victory on Sunday afternoon.
However, securing a win here is easier said than done for Abdullah Avci's side, who are winless in their last four league games and have shipped 10 goals while scoring just three in return in that time.
Team News
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A major contributor to Besiktas' drop-off this year has been the number of injuries they have had to contend with, and they are likely to be without as many as eight players for this crucial encounter.
In terms of long-term absentees, Amir Hadziahmetovic has been ruled out for the remainder of the season with a muscle injury, and Emrecan Uzunhan is only likely to return in April from an ACL injury.
Salih Ucan, Onur Bulut, Umut Meras, Vincent Aboubakar and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain are all ruled out until the end of February, while Arthur Masuaku is still on international duty with Congo DR at the Africa Cup of Nations.
Trabzonspor are also missing a few key players, but perhaps none more so than Filip Benkovic, who is likely to miss at least another two weeks due to a muscle injury.
Mislav Orsic has only featured once this season and is out until March with an ACL injury, while Huseyin Turkmen has not played at all this term but has returned to training in the last couple of weeks. Nicolas Pepe and Paul Onuachu are away on international duty with Ivory Coast and Nigeria respectively.
Besiktas possible starting lineup:
Gunok; Svensson, Uysal, Colley, Zaynutdinov; Amartey, Ghezzal, Fernandes; Rashica, Tosun, Kilicsoy
Trabzonspor possible starting lineup:
Cakir; Aydin, Baniya, Denswil, Elmali; Mendy, Ozdemir; Visca, Bardhi, Fountas; Destan
We say: Besiktas 1-1 Trabzonspor
Despite their lofty league positions, both these sides come into this match a long way from their best form. They have failed to win any of their last three league matches and are missing several key players either due to injury or international duty. There is nothing to choose between them at this moment, and we feel they will have to settle for a share of the spoils at the final whistle.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Devesh Jaganath
