Gaziantep will aim to compound Bodrumspor's struggles when the two sides clash at the Gaziantep Stadium on Saturday in round 20 of the 2024-25 Turkish Super Lig campaign.
The newly promoted visitors find themselves entrenched in the relegation zone, with their survival battle becoming increasingly difficult as the gap to safety continues to widen.
Match preview
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Bodrumspor's struggles on the road this season have been glaring, as they have collected just four points from a possible 27—the joint second-worst away record in the league, with their latest setback coming via a 2-1 loss to Besiktas, extending their dismal run away from home.
Manager Volkan Demirel, appointed in late October, faces a monumental task in keeping the Mugla-based team in the top flight, with the team only earning promotion to the Super Lig for the first time in their history in the 2023-24 season.
However, their survival hopes are fading fast – under Demirel's guidance, the team has managed just one win in eight league matches, alongside five losses and two draws, and this poor run has left them 17th in the standings, five points adrift of safety.
Currently on a three-match winless streak, Bodrumspor's hopes of ending this poor run is bleak, having only won one away game all season, with their last six away outings having been particularly woeful, with five defeats and a solitary draw.
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Gaziantep, however, know all too well the perils of relegation battles, having narrowly avoided the drop last season, while also enduring a slow start to the current campaign, with just one win in their opening eight matches.
But under the leadership of Selcuk Inan, Gaziantep have turned their fortunes around spectacularly – they have won six of their last 10 league matches, drawing one and losing three, a run that has transformed them from relegation candidates to potential top-four contenders, as they now sit just six points behind fourth-placed Goztepe halfway through the season.
The Gaziantep Stadium has been a fortress for Inan's side, with 20 points from a possible 27 earned at home, leaving them with the fourth-best home record in the league, and remarkably, they remain unbeaten at home across all competitions since losing their first home league game of the season.
Inan's men are currently on a nine-match winning streak at the Gaziantep Stadium, including six league victories, and their most recent home league game saw them edge Adana Demirspor 1-0, extending their run to seven consecutive home wins with clean sheets across all competitions.
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Team News
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Gaziantep will be without Godfrey Bitok (leg), Enric Saborit (ankle) and Emre Tasdemir (muscle) due to injuries.
However, the hosts will welcome back Bruno Viana and Christopher Lungoyi, who were both suspended for the last game due to accumulated yellow cards.
New signing, Emmanuel Boateng, who is yet to feature for Gaz since his arrival, might make the bench for this clash.
For Bodrumspor, Mustafa Erdilman, Suleyman Ozdamar, Haqi Osman and Tunahan Akpinar remain out with no confirmed return dates.
January signing Jonathan Okita might make the squad for this one, but he is likely to remain on the bench.
Gaziantep possible starting lineup:
Buzan; M'bakata, Mandouki, Kizildag, Eskihallac; Maxim, Ndiaye, Kozlowski; Okereke, Dervisoglu, Sorescu
Bodrumspor possible starting lineup:
Sousa; Celustka, Aytemur, Ajeti, Sen; Antalyali, Mohammed; Bayrakdar, Ribeiro, Dimitrov; Puscas
We say: Gaziantep 2-0 Bodrumspor
Gaziantep's home dominance should continue against a struggling Bodrumspor side, whose away form has been dismal this season.
With the hosts unbeaten in their last nine home matches and the visitors winless in six away games, we expect a comfortable victory for the hosts.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
