Fenerbahce will be looking to clinch a fifth consecutive victory when they welcome Goztepe SK to the Ulker Stadium on Saturday.
The visitors, on the other hand, have lost their nine league games, leaving them staring down the barrel of relegation to the second tier.
Match preview
© Reuters
Fenerbahce's hopes of qualifying for the Champions League received a major boost last weekend when they managed to get the better of their rivals Galatasaray in the Intercontinental derby.
Miha Zajc sparked scenes of jubilation in the Ulker Stadium after grabbing the opener in the 26th minute, and the Yellow Canaries secured the points when Serdar Dursun found the net in the second period.
That result lifted Fenerbahce into second place, while it also extended their unbeaten league run to eight games.
Thanks to their impressive run of results, Ismail Kartal's side have picked up more points in 2022 than any other Super Lig side, but despite being in red hot form, the Yellow Canaries cannot afford to rest on their laurels, with Konyaspor just one point behind them in the league table.
Buoyed from their derby day victory, Fenerbahce will believe that they have the firepower to overcome Goztepe after scoring at least twice in eight of their previous 11 home league games.
© Reuters
The visitors, meanwhile, look destined to drop down to the second tier with 12 points separating them from safety.
Goztepe ended January two points above the relegation zone, but after losing their last nine TSuper Lig games, they now languish in 19th place.
The latest defeat took place on home turf last weekend, with goals from Emrah Bassan and Olivier Kemen helping Kayserispor to a 2-1 win over Goztepe.
Not only did that result represent Goztepe's ninth consecutive defeat in the Super Lig, but for the ninth league game in a row, they conceded at least two goals.
That poor run of results has left Saturday's visitors with the second-worst defensive record in the top flight, and that struggling backline will be put to the test when it faces an in-form Fenerbahce attack.
- W
- D
- W
- W
- W
- W
- L
- L
- L
- L
- L
- L
Team News
© Reuters
Although Fenerbahce are expected to keep changes to a minimum, they will be forced into one alteration, with Irfan Kahveci suspended due to an accumulation of yellow cards.
Dimitrios Pelkas is likely to be the player who is given the nod to replace Kahveci, with the Greek international in line to make his eighth league start of the season.
Dursun took his league tally for the campaign to nine goals with his strike against Galatasaray last weekend and the forward will be hoping to build upon that effort when he features in the front line on Saturday.
As for the visitors, they are still without the services of Atinc Nukan, who is ruled out due to a knee injury.
Goztepe could make a change in midfield, with Soner Aydogdu expected to replace Yalcin Kayan.
After returning from injury to play 70 minutes against Kayserispor, Francois Moubandje is set to retain his place in the backline for Saturday's encounter.
Fenerbahce possible starting lineup:
Bayindir; Osayi-Samuel, Aziz, Kim, Kadioglu; Zajc, Crespo; Pelkas, Yandas, Rossi; Dursun
Goztepe SK possible starting lineup:
Piric; Alici, Arslanagic, Demirtas, Moubandje; Aydogdu, Nwobodo; Akbunar, Tijanic, Lourency; Di Santo
We say: Fenerbahce 3-1 Goztepe SK
With Fenerbahce in impressive form and Goztepe in freefall, we cannot see past a home victory, with the Yellow Canaries determined to keep hold of second place as they bid to book their place in next season's Champions League qualifying rounds.
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 Fenerbahce win with a probability of 74.28%. A draw had a probability of 15.8% and a win for Goztepe SK had a probability of 9.91%.
The most likely scoreline for a Fenerbahce win was 2-0 with a probability of 11.64%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 3-0 (9.63%) and 1-0 (9.38%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (7.45%), while for a Goztepe SK win it was 0-1 (3%). The actual scoreline of 2-0 was predicted with an 11.6% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted a 2-0 win for Fenerbahce in this match and our team at Sports Mole correctly predicted the win for Fenerbahce.
