Altay and Goztepe SK meet in Super Lig on Friday evening with the opportunity to move into the top five in the standings.
The home side currently occupy ninth position, despite back-to-back defeats, while the visitors are one point and three places adrift of their next opponents.
Match preview
With momentum having been lost either side of the international break, Altay will have mixed feelings regarding their start to life back in the top flight.
Nevertheless, having finished in fifth place in the second tier during 2020-21, Mustafa Denizli and his squad will eventually put their latest results into context.
Anything above the relegation zone would have been taken as a positive, a target which was effectively achieved when they brushed aside Kayserispor and Alanyaspor.
Their two defeats have come versus clubs occupying third and fourth respectively, highlighting the gulf in class that they may experience as the season progresses.
That said, matches such as this one give Altay the chance to make quick headway up the table, particularly with six different players having already gotten on the scoresheet.
On the back of their 10th-placed finish last season, collecting five points from four matches is nothing more than par for the course for Goztepe.
However, Sunday's 2-1 victory over Istanbul Basaksehir has come at the right time for Nestor El Maestro, who would have come under pressure with defeat to the division's strugglers.
Goz Goz came from behind to earn their first triumph of the season, just like they did to claim draws at Antalyaspor and Sivasspor.
None of this squad have scored more than one goal during the opening four matches, not helped by El Maestro already using 21 players.
- W
- W
- L
- L
- D
- L
- D
- W
Team News
With a fully-fit squad to choose from, Denizli is expected to make changes to his Altay starting lineup after the defeat at Konyaspor.
Eric Bjorkander, Eren Erdogan and Ahmed Yasser Rayan are all in contention for recalls after their half-time introductions during that game.
Veteran midfielder Ceyhun Gulselam, who is yet to make an appearance since his summer arrival, is also an option.
Kerim Alici may be brought into the Goztepe XI after replacing right-back Murat Paluli before the break against Basaksehir.
After providing the assist for the winner last time out, David Tijanic could also be drafted into the team behind Cherif Ndiaye.
Altay possible starting lineup:
Lis; Karayel, Akca, Bjorkander, Naderi; Gulselam, Poko; Kappel, Pinares, Rodriguez; Bamba
Goztepe SK possible starting lineup:
Egribayet; Alici, Arslanagic, Demirtas, Emir; Akbunar, Aydogdu, Nwobodo, Lourency; Tijanic, Ndiaye
We say: Altay 1-1 Goztepe SK
With these two teams on contrasting trajectories either side of the international break, this has all the makings of an intriguing contest.
While we make the visitors the marginal favourites, Altay could do enough to claim a share of the spoils.
Top tip
Darren Plant
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 Altay win with a probability of 47.65%. A win for Goztepe SK had a probability of 27.11% and a draw had a probability of 25.2%.
The most likely scoreline for an Altay win was 1-0 with a probability of 10.8%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (9.35%) and 2-0 (8.41%). The likeliest Goztepe SK win was 0-1 (7.7%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (11.99%). The actual scoreline of 2-1 was predicted with a 9.3% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Altay would win this match.
