Gameweek two in the Turkish Super Lig will see newly promoted rivals Eyupspor and Bodrumspor face off at Recep Tayyip Erdogan Stadyumu on Sunday evening.
The hosts earned their first point in the top flight with a 1-1 draw against Alanyaspor last weekend, while the visitors suffered a 1-0 loss to Gaziantep at home.
Match preview
© Imago
The 2023-24 season was arguably the greatest in the 105-year history of Eyupspor, as they secured the 1. Lig title to earn their first-ever promotion to the top flight of Turkish league football.
Eyupspor ended the season five points clear of Goztepe in the second-tier title race last term and had secured their promotion with a 4-1 win over Altay in April, five matches before the end of the term.
Last week, they put on a solid defensive display in the first half against Alanyaspor and took the lead early in the second period through Samu Saiz, but only managed to hold the advantage for 12 minutes until Sergio Cordova levelled proceedings.
However, all the good work the team did in their first top-flight match ended up being largely overlooked when their manager and Turkish football legend Arda Turan was sent off after an altercation with the referee.
While the hosts are now set to face Bodrum with their manager missing from the dugout, they will be confident of picking up their first top-flight victory having beaten this opponent home and away last season.
© Imago
Meanwhile, Bodrum earned their first-ever promotion to the Super Lig by defeating Sakaryaspor 3-1 in the TFF 1. Lig playoff final after extra-time at the end of May.
The emotion shown by the side after that victory clearly showed how much it meant to them, especially after narrowly losing the playoff final to Pendikspor in the previous season.
Ismet Tasdemir's side opened their top-flight tenure with a 1-0 loss to Gaziantep but they would likely be bitterly disappointed not to have got anything from the match, having dominated it for the majority of the 90 minutes.
Gaziantep were reduced to 10 men early in the second half and the match seemed destined to end in a goalless draw but Enric Saborit found the back of the net with virtually the final kick of the match in the seventh minute of stoppage-time.
Nevertheless, their performance in the match would have given the team loads of confidence which they will look to carry on the road this week. Bodrum have not tasted an away defeat since losing 2-1 to Corum back in February.
Team News
Recep Niyaz lasted just 36 minutes in his first match in the top flight before sustaining an injury which forced him off the pitch and he has been flagged as a major doubt for this week's encounter.
Saiz was the player who replaced Niyaz and should feature from the off here alongside Emre Akbaba and Halil Akbunar in the midfield, while Mame Baba Thiam is expected to lead the attack.
Bodrum, on the other hand, have three confirmed absentees, including Suleyman Ozdamar and Tunahan Akpinar, who are ruled out for the first few weeks due to an injured foot and calf respectively.
Mustafa Erdilman sustained a cruciate ligament tear during pre-season and is only expected to return to first-team action next February at the earliest having undergone surgery.
Eyupspor possible starting lineup:
Ozer; Kabasakal, Yalcin, Claro, Erkin; Midtsjo, Kutucu, Akbaba, Saiz, Akbunar; Thiam
Bodrumspor possible starting lineup:
Sousa; Ergun, Herelle, Aytemur, Sen; Mohammed, Coban, Brazao, Ribeiro, Yalcin; Bayrakdar
We say: Eyupspor 2-0 Bodrumspor
While Bodrum made a promising league debut last weekend, it is difficult to overlook Eyupspor's excellent record in this fixture, and we feel the hosts will be able to secure their first top-flight victory in this one.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Devesh Jaganath
