Istanbul Basaksehir will look to add a sixth straight league victory on Friday, when they play host to Altay.
The capital side have enjoyed a rise up to seventh spot in the Turkish Super Lig table thanks to their strong run, while their visitors sit 11th, having failed to win any of their last six league outings.
Match preview
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In their bid to battle at the top end of the Turkish top flight this term, Istanbul Basaksehir had to endure a poor start to the season, losing their first four league games to drop to 19th place.
While they managed to put a first win on the board against Fenerbahce, the Boz Baykuslar continued to struggle for consistency and sat deep in the bottom half with just six points from eight matches.
That start triggered the departure of Aykut Kocaman, and new boss Emre Belozoglu began in style, handing defending champions Besiktas a 3-2 defeat thanks to a Stefano Okaka brace and a late Fredrik Gulbrandsen goal, before they made it back-to-back wins for the first time this season by beating Antalyaspor 2-1.
Their winning run at the beginning of Belozoglu's tenure now stands at five games, as they followed up victories over Adana Demirspor and Yeni Malatyaspor with a 2-1 win against Sivasspor last time out, with Gulbrandsen again on the scoresheet alongside Mahmut Tekdemir.
Having picked up 15 points from the last five games, scoring 12 goals and conceding just six in the process, the Istanbul outfit have enjoyed a rise to seventh, and they will be further motivated by the fact that a win on Friday would see them climb into the top four, at least until Saturday.
On the contrary to their hosts, Altay started the season in particularly impressive fashion following their promotion from the second tier, and they sat third having won five of their first seven league outings.
That was capped off by a run of three straight victories, culminating in a hard-fought 2-1 win over champions Besiktas, but Buyuk Altay have now seen their form take a sharp dip.
Their winning run was halted by a 4-1 thrashing at the hands of Gaziantep, and they have now failed to secure a victory from any of their last six matches, losing five of those.
Mustafa Denizli's side head into Friday on the back of consecutive defeats, most recently falling to fellow promoted side Adana Demirspor, as Ahmed Yasser Rayan's equaliser was followed by goals from Britt Assombalonga and David Akintola to hand the visitors a 3-1 win.
As a result of their tough run of form, Altay have now dropped to 11th spot, and, now leading the relegation zone by just four points, they will be keen to return to winning ways to ensure they remain at the right end of the table after an eye-catching start.
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Team News
Following another victory last time out, Istanbul Basaksehir should again field a relatively unchanged side as they look to extend their impressive form.
Experienced centre-back Alexandru Epureanu returned from an injury recently, but he will struggle to displace either Leo Duarte or Youssouf Ndayishimiye, with the duo performing impressively last time out.
Winger Fredrik Gulbrandsen should come in with confidence after his third league goal of the season in that win, while former Tottenham Hotspur man Nacer Chadli will operate on the other flank and Stefano Okaka will lead the line, having hit seven goals in 10 Super Lig appearances for his new side.
Altay's only absentee should be Mohammad Naderi, after Martin Rodriguez recently returned to full fitness.
Ahmed Yasser Rayan will battle to lead the line, after he came off the bench at half time to quickly net his third league goal of the season in the recent defeat to Adana Demirspor.
Istanbul Basaksehir possible starting lineup:
Babacan; Sahiner, Duarte, Ndayishimiye, Kaldirim; Cigeri; Gulbrandsen, Tekdemir, Ozcan, Chadli; Okaka
Altay possible starting lineup:
Lis; Unlu, Thiam, Akca, Karayel; Poko, Aka; Kappel, Pinares, Bamba; Rayan
We say: Istanbul Basaksehir 3-1 Altay
The contrasting form of the two sides certainly points towards a home win on Friday, and we do not expect a big shock.
Istanbul Basaksehir have been relentless since the appointment of Belozoglu, and they should have enough to continue building momentum against an Altay side lacking confidence.
Top tip
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 Istanbul Basaksehir win with a probability of 52.51%. A draw had a probability of 24.1% and a win for Altay had a probability of 23.36%.
The most likely scoreline for a Istanbul Basaksehir win was 1-0 with a probability of 11.01%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (9.68%) and 2-0 (9.3%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (11.47%), while for an Altay win it was 0-1 (6.8%). The actual scoreline of 0-0 was predicted with a 6.5% likelihood.
