Round 24 of the Turkish Super Lig kicks off with Hatayspor playing host to Fatih Karagumruk at the Mersin Stadium on Friday afternoon.
Both teams saw their winless streaks come to an end last weekend, and will be eager to build momentum going forward.
Match preview
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Hatayspor finally broke their ten-game winless run in the Turkish Super Lig, recording a narrow 1-0 victory over Adana Demirspor at the New Adana Stadium on Saturday.
The unlikely hero for Volkan Demirel's side was former Manchester United winger Nani, who deflected the ball into his own net in the 44th minute.
Despite securing their first league win since beating Galatasaray in November, Hatayspor remain precariously positioned in 15th place, just two points clear of the relegation zone.
However, they return home this Friday with renewed optimism, facing Fatih Karagumruk – a team they have traditionally dominated on home turf.
At the Mersin Stadium, Hatayspor boast an impressive record against Karagumruk, with three wins, two draws and just one defeat in their six encounters. Demirel will be hoping to harness this home advantage and record back-to-back league victories for the first time this season.
However, while unbeaten in their last four home games across all competitions, Hatayspor have faltered in recent league fixtures, drawing their last three at the Mersin Stadium and failing to win their last five in the competition.
Meanwhile, Fatih Karagumruk snapped their own three-game winless streak in emphatic fashion last weekend, crushing Rizespor 4-0 in their biggest league victory of the season.
Valentin Eysseric opened the scoring before Serdar Dursun converted a penalty and late goals from Levent Mercan and Can Keles sealed the rout.
This result lifted Shota Arveladze's men out of the relegation zone, pushing them up to 16th place with 24 points – just a single point above the drop zone.
Their next challenge is Hatayspor, a team they have enjoyed success against in recent encounters, winning twice in their last three league meetings and scoring seven goals while conceding just one. One of those victories, it is worth noting, came at the Mersin Stadium.
However, Karagumruk's away form paints a starkly different picture, as they share the joint-worst away record with Istanbulspor, having picked up just five of their total points on the road.
Additionally, they have lost each of their last six away matches, a run Arveladze desperately hopes to end on Friday as he seeks consecutive league wins for the first time this season.
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Team News
Eighteen-year-old Ibrahim Demir remains sidelined with a knee injury, which has seen him miss all Hatayspor matches since December.
Omer Beyaz is also ruled out for the home side as he recovers from appendicitis, which has kept him out of the last two games.
Renat Dadashov is expected to spearhead the attack again, looking to add to his four league goals this season.
For the away side, Ryan Mendes is away with the Cape Verde squad at the Africa Cup of Nations and is the only absentee for this fixture.
Dursun netted his third league goal last time out, and the 32-year-old is likely to keep his place as the central striker in the starting eleven.
Hatayspor possible starting lineup:
Bekaj; Corekci, Maksimovic, Kilama, Alici; Aburjania, Saglam; Rivas, Dele-Bashiru, Fernandes; Dadashov
Fatih Karagumruk possible starting lineup:
Sirigu; Veseli, Dursun, Ceccherini, Mercan; Bertolacci, Rohden; Teklic, Eysseric, Yalcin; Dursun
We say: Hatayspor 1-0 Fatih Karagumruk
Karagumruk's away form has been abysmal this season and this will give Hatayspor the upper hand in this fixture. The Star of the South will be looking to convert their home draws into wins, and this is the perfect opponent for them to achieve that.
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