Fenerbahce seek to reclaim first place in the Super Lig table when they welcome Sivasspor to the Sukru Saracoglu Stadium on Monday.
The round 14 encounter could see the home side claim their seventh triumph in front of their fans, while their visitors aim for another encouraging result to continue their impressive road record.
Match preview
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Fenerbahce have had an impressive start to the season in Turkey but have struggled to replicate that in Europe lately, with Thursday's 6-1 thrashing at Nordsjaelland leaving them third in their Europa Conference League group.
Ismail Kartal's men seek a response to that disappointing continental performance and result when they host Sivasspor on Monday, keen to register another home victory.
While Adana Demirspor have accrued one more point than Fener in home games — 19-18 — both clubs have picked up six wins each in front of their fans.
The hitherto league-leading club returned to winning ways on home turf with a 2-1 triumph over Fatih Karagumruk on November 26, a much-needed success to banish the 3-2 disappointment against Trabzonspor at the start of the month.
With Galatasaray securing a 2-0 win at relegation-threatened Pendikspor on Saturday, the Yellow Canaries are three points behind their Istanbul rivals before taking to the field on Monday.
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As for Sivasspor, the mid-table side will hope to worsen the misery of their hosts by producing a top performance in Istanbul.
The precedent does favour Yigidos, who have lost only one of their recent four Super Lig visits to Fenerbahce, even if that was their last visit in November 2022.
That 1-0 loss ended Sivasspor's three-game undefeated run (two wins) against Monday's opponents, and they seek to stun their more illustrious hosts yet again in gameweek 14.
Despite a 3-0 reverse at Karagumruk a fortnight back, the Sivas-based club have more road points (10) than all but two Super Lig clubs — the league's leading two sides (16) — and aim to return to winning in Istanbul.
Servet Cetin will hope his team find the back of the net on Monday, as both away losses have come in games where they fired blanks, and Yigidos are undefeated in the four matches they scored.
Team News
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Fenerbahce have several injury issues, with Ferdi Kadioglu's muscle injury expected to keep him out of action against Sivasspor.
Also sidelined with muscle issues are Mert Hakan Yandas, Miha Zajc, Fred and Rodrigo Becao, while Alexander Djiku (leg break), Serdar Aziz (ankle) and Lincoln (knee) are missing Monday's fixture.
The away side do not have as many injury worries, with Burak Kapacak (thigh) and Modou Barrow (shoulder) not expected back for a few more weeks, while Bengali-Fode Koita is touch-and-go for round 14's encounter.
Samu Saiz and Rey Manaj have netted four Super Lig goals apiece for Sivasspor, and the pair could play pivotal roles for Yigidos in Istanbul.
Fenerbahce possible starting lineup:
Livakovic; Muldur, Akaydin, Oosterwolde, Osayi-Samuel; Crespo, Yuksek; Tadic, Szymanski, Kahveci; Dzeko
Sivasspor possible starting lineup:
Vural; Okumus, Camara, Osmanpasa, Ciftci; Konak; Njie, Charisis, Saiz, Bassan; Manaj
We say: Fenerbahce 2-1 Sivasspor
Regardless of the hurt from their heavy Conference League defeat on Thursday, Fenerbahce should return to winning ways on Monday with a hard-fought victory over one of the league's best travellers.
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