Fenerbahce will look to end a worrying run of form when they host Kayserispor in the Turkish Super Lig on Sunday.
The Istanbul-based side have lost three league games in a row, leaving them seventh in the table, while their visitors sit 11th.
Match preview
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After missing out on the league title by two points last season, Fenerbahce started the new campaign in superb form under new manager Vitor Pereira, winning six of the first eight matches.
However, a 2-1 defeat to Konyaspor last weekend meant they had lost three consecutive league games for the first time in over three years.
Pereira will hope that a 3-0 win over Royal Antwerp in the Europa League on Thursday will give his side a confidence boost, particularly with the Intercontinental Derby against Galatasaray to come immediately after the international break.
Fenerbahce have not kept a clean sheet in the Turkish Super Lig since August, but have lost just one of five league matches at the Sukru Saracoglu Stadium this season.
Meanwhile, the Yellow Canaries have won their last four games against Kayserispor, not losing to the Anatolian side since November 2019.
Kayserispor ended their own run of three successive defeats when they came from behind to beat Fatih Karagumruk 2-1 last weekend, with Mame Thiam hitting the winner in the 92nd minute.
Having survived relegation by one point last season after being spared the drop by the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, supporters will hope that the club can finally move away from danger this year – last weekend's win took them five points above the bottom four.
However, only Rizespor and Yeni Malatyaspor have conceded more goals than Hikmet Karaman's team this season.
Kayserispor have won just one of six away matches in 2021-22 and that came on their last visit to Istanbul when they faced Basaksehir in August.
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Team News
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Fenerbahce trio Altay Bayindir, Luis Gustavo and Enner Valencia all picked up injuries in the defeat to Konyaspor last weekend so will be absent for this game.
They join Mesut Ozil and Serdar Aziz on the treatment table, while Bright Osayi-Samuel remains suspended.
Attila Szalai should return to the starting lineup after dropping to the bench in the Europa League, while midweek goals for Max Meyer and Mert Hakan Yandas could earn them both a start.
Onur Bulut's red card in Kayserispor's win over Fatih Karagumruk means he is suspended for the trip to Istanbul; former Fenerbahce man Ramazan Civelek should replace him.
Bernard Mensah is ruled out for the season with an ACL injury, while Ugur Demirok is also sidelined.
Mario Gavranovic has two goals and two assists in four games since signing from Dinamo Zagreb in the summer.
Fenerbahce possible starting lineup:
Ozer; Tisserand, Min-Jae, Szalai; Sangare, Yandas, Meyer, Kadioglu; Kahveci, Berisha, Rossi
Kayserispor possible starting lineup:
Lung; Civelek, Hosseini, Kolovetsios, Cardoso; Campanharo, Akdag; Bassan, Kemen, Thiam; Gavranovic
We say: Fenerbahce 2-1 Kayserispor
Fenerbahce are out of form and struggling with injuries, but will still be keen to show they have enough to get past Kayserispor, particularly on home turf. The visitors will have been given a confidence boost by their win last week though, so will not make it easy.
Top tip
Olly Allen
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 75.24%. A draw had a probability of 15.9% and a win for Kayserispor had a probability of 8.84%.
The most likely scoreline for a Fenerbahce win was 2-0 with a probability of 13.16%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-0 (11.01%) and 3-0 (10.48%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (7.57%), while for a Kayserispor win it was 0-1 (3.17%). The actual scoreline of 2-2 was predicted with a 3.1% likelihood.
