Eyupspor will be eager to retain their place in the top four as they face Fenerbahce in the Turkish Super Lig round 17 at Recep Tayyip Erdogan Stadium on Friday.
It will be the first meeting between both sides in over eight decades, with the hosts welcoming one of the most successful clubs in the country to their home for the first time in the top flight.
Match preview
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Eyupspor are enjoying a solid start to their first ever Super Lig campaign, but the only blemish has been their record on the road, with a 2-0 defeat away at Kasimpasa last Friday following this trend.
After a goalless first half, Arda Turan's side conceded twice in the second period, leaving them with just one win from their last four league matches, but they managed to hold onto fourth place, with 26 points from 16 matches, three points behind third-placed Samsunspor but just one point ahead of fifth-placed Goztepe, who have played one game fewer.
As they return to home turf, where they have enjoyed much better form this season, Eyupspor will have a feeling that they can successfully pull off a giant-killing mission against a formidable opponent in Fenerbahce, in what will be the first competitive meeting between the two sides since 1937, making it an even more exciting clash.
At home, Eyupspor have been a force to be reckoned with – of their seven Super Lig matches on home soil, they have won five, drawn one, and suffered just one defeat, to Caykur Rizespor in November, with this impressive record leaving them with the fourth-best home form in the division and the second-fewest goals conceded at home.
Their confidence would have been restored after a 4-1 victory over third-division side Etimesgut in the Turkish Cup on Tuesday, with a hat-trick from Gianni Bruno sealing the win, momentum that Turan's men will hope to leverage on.
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Fenerbahce, on the other hand, are in a more delicate situation after seeing the gap between them and league leaders Galatasaray extend to six points following a loss to Besiktas, as they now have little margin for error if they are to close that gap by the end of the season.
However, they bounced back strongly with a 3-1 win over Istanbul Basaksehir last Sunday, thanks to a brace from Moroccan forward Youssef En-Nesyri and a goal from Edin Dzeko.
Before that, though, Fenerbahce had lost two consecutive matches, which had sparked some frustration among their supporters, leaving the club needing a strong winning run to expunge this feeling, starting with Friday's game.
Although they suffered a first away defeat in their last game on the road, the visitors still possess the second-best away form in the Super Lig and have scored more goals on the road than any other team in the league.
With a potent attack at their disposal, the Yellow Canaries have the firepower to propel themselves to victory against one of the league's top sides on home turf - anything less than a win could further derail their title ambitions.
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Team News
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Eyupspor will be without Fredrik Midtsjo, who is out for the season with a serious knee injury, while Recep Niyaz is also sidelined until March with the same issue.
Belgian forward Bruno will hope the hat-trick he bagged in the cup on Tuesday is enough to earn him a place in the starting XI, though club's outright top scorer with eight goals, Mame Baba Thiam, is expected to start up front.
Fenerbahce will remain without the injured duo of Mert Hakan Yandas and Jayden Oosterwolde, with the latter expected to miss the entire season.
Dzeko has nine league goals to his name, one goal short of matching the league's leading scorers, a gap he will be hoping to bridge on Friday.
Eyupspor possible starting lineup:
Ozer; Bingol, Claro, Yalcin, Erkin; Akbunar, Kabaskal, Kutucu, Akbaba, Ampem; Thiam
Fenerbahce possible starting lineup:
Livakovic; Osayi-Samuel, Becao, Soyuncu, Kostic; Fred, Amrabat; Kahveci, Szymanski, Aydin; Dzeko
We say: Eyupspor 1-2 Fenerbahce
This clash is set to be a tightly contested affair, given Eyupspor's strong home form and Fenerbahce's impressive away record – however, we anticipate the visitors will edge this one by the final whistle, thanks to their superior quality and experience.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
