In search of their third win on the trot, Fatih Karagumruk play host to Antalyaspor at the Vefa Stadium in round six of the Super Lig on Tuesday.
The visitors, who are presently at the wrong end of the league table, head into the game without a win in their last two outings and will be looking to end this dry spell.
Match preview
Fatih Karagumruk strengthened their position in the top half of the table when they claimed a thrilling 4-3 victory over Yeni Malatyaspor last time out.
In an end-to-end contest at the New Malatya Stadium, Andrea Bertolacci's 30th-minute strike pulled one back for the Kara Kirmizi after Benjamin Tetteh and Mustafa Eskihellac put the hosts two goals up midway through the first half, but Mounir Chouiar netted in the 40th minute to restore Yeni Malatyaspor's two-goal lead.
However, Aleksandar Pesic's goal on the stroke of half time served as a morale booster for Atilay Canel's men, who were in the ascendancy for most of the second half and turned the game on its head through second goals from Pesic and Bertolacci.
That followed an emphatic 4-0 win over Adana Demirspor, as Pesic hit a first-half brace before Andrea Bertolacci and Yann Karamoh netted in the second half to end their two-game winless run.
With three wins and one draw from their opening five outings, Fatih Karagumruk are currently fifth in the Super Lig table and could move into the top two with a win on Tuesday.
Their fine start to the season has been in keeping with the solid display of their free-scoring frontmen, who boast the league's joint-best attacking record with 11 goals so far.
However, they face the test of going up against an Antalyaspor side who they have failed to secure a win against in the last three encounters between the sides since 2019.
Antalyaspor, on the other hand, continued to drop points this season as they fell to a 3-2 loss at the hands of Besiktas at the Antalya Stadium last Saturday.
After Haji Wright and Veysel Sari scored to put the Akrepler in a two-goal lead heading into the break, Beskitas upped the ante in the second half and turned the game on its head through goals from Ridvan Yilmaz, Michy Batshuayi and Rachid Ghezzal.
That was a second defeat on the trot for Ersun Yanal's side, who were beaten 2-0 by Gaziantep in their previous outing, as Muhammet Demir and Hamza Mendyl hit second-half goals to end the Sahinler's run of three games without a win.
Antalyaspor are now winless in four of their first five games so far, picking up one draw and losing three, and that poor run of results sees them seated in the lower echelons of the league table.
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Team News
Fatih Karagumruk will be without former Liverpool forward Fabio Borini, who picked up an injury in the season finale against Denizlispor back in May.
Veteran midfielder Lucas Biglia is also a major doubt for the hosts after missing the game last time out through an injury he picked up against Adana Demirspor.
Rayyan Baniya, who recently completed a move from Italian side Mantova continues to wait for his debut as he is currently recuperating from a cruciate ligament rupture, while Alparslan Erdem misses out through a severe ankle problem he sustained back in January.
With five goals to his name already, Aleksandar Pesic has been pivotal in Fatih Karagumruk's solid start to the season and we expect the 29-year-old to lead their attack for the sixth game running.
Antalyaspor, meanwhile, remain without the services of Turkish youngster Ahmet Gulay, who will also play no part in Tuesday's game as he is currently recuperating from a lengthy injury.
Fatih Karagumruk possible starting lineup:
Viviano; Hedenstad, Bekaroglu, Zukanovic, Balkovec; Tatli; Karamoh, Oztumer, Bertolacci, Musa; Pesic
cpossible starting lineup:
Boffin; Balci, Sari, Naldo; Vural; Poli, Sahin; Bayrakdar, Fredy, Mukairu; Wright
We say: Fatih Karagumruk 1-1 Antalyaspor
Both sides have had contrasting starts to the new league campaign with Fatih Karagumruk being the better side.
While Antalyaspor have struggled to get going, they boast quality players in their ranks perfectly capable of ending this dry spell, and we anticipate this will be a cagey contest with both sides settling for a share of the spoils.
Top tip
Joshua Ojele
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Fatih Karagumruk win with a probability of 63.82%. A draw had a probability of 20.4% and a win for Antalyaspor had a probability of 15.76%.
The most likely scoreline for a Fatih Karagumruk win was 2-0 with a probability of 10.93%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-0 (10.68%) and 2-1 (9.91%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (9.68%), while for an Antalyaspor win it was 0-1 (4.73%). The actual scoreline of 0-0 was predicted with a 5.2% likelihood.
