Kasimpasa and Adana Demirspor will be seeking to pick up their first win of the 2024-25 Turkish Super Lig campaign when they lock horns at the Recep Tayyip Erdogan Stadium on Sunday.
Having lost both home and away meetings between the two sides last season, the Blue Lightnings will head into the weekend looking to get one over the hosts and get their season up and running.
Match preview
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Kasimpasa turned in a resilient team display last Monday when they fought back from behind to salvage a 1-1 draw against Hatayspor when the sides squared off at the Mersin Stadium.
Portuguese forward Joelson Fernandes netted in the 21st minute to set Hatayspor on their way to their first win of the season but Nuno Da Costa struck in the first minute of stoppage time to force a share of the spoils.
Prior to that, Kasimpasa were left spitting feathers in the Super Lig opener on August 10, when they fell to a 3-2 home defeat against Konyaspor after throwing away their lead in the final nine minutes of the game.
Head coach Sami Ugurlu will that hope his side can take the positives from the game against Hatayspor as they look to find their feet and improve on their performance from last season, where they finished fifth in the table — their highest position since returning to the top flight in 2012.
Next up for Kasimpasa is an opposing side against whom they are unbeaten in four of their six encounters since November 2021, picking up one draw and three wins, including back-to-back victories in the league last season.
Adana Demirspor, on the other hand, were left empty handed for the second consecutive game as they fell to a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Caykur Rizespor last Saturday.
In an end-to-end affair at the New Adana Stadium, Husniddin Alikulov and Ali Sowe scored in either half to put Rizespor in a comfortable lead before Yusuf Barasi pulled one back for the hosts with a 98th-minute penalty.
This followed a 1-0 loss against Fenerbahce in the season curtain-raiser on August 10, when Edin Dzeko netted four minutes after the half-hour mark to hand Jose Mourinho's men an opening-day victory.
With last week's result against Rizespor, Adana Demirspor have now lost each of their last five Super Lig matches, conceding 17 goals and scoring five since a 1-0 victory over Istanbulspor on May 4.
While Michael Valkanis's men will be looking to find their feet this weekend, results away from home offer little optimism as they have failed to win 19 of their last 20 away games in the league, losing nine and claiming 10 draws since the start of the 2023-24 campaign.
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Team News
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Kasimpasa will take to the pitch without the duo of Erdem Cetinkaya and Moroccan midfielder Dies Saddiki, who are currently recuperating from muscle injuries.
New signing Iron Gomis, who recently joined from Salernitana, has missed the start of the season due to illness and the French midfielder is a major doubt for Sunday's clash.
With two goals in the opening two games, Da Costa has been a standout performer for Kasimpasa this season and the 33-year-old striker, who netted 14 league goals last term, will be one to keep an eye on this weekend.
Meanwhile, Adana Demirspor head into the weekend with a clean bill of health and no suspension concerns, giving Valkanis the luxury of a full-strength squad at his disposal.
However, the Blue Lightnings will be without French midfielder Edouard Michut after the 21-year-old terminated his contract, having only completed a permanent move from Paris Saint-Germain this summer.
Michut spent last season with Adana Demirspor on loan from the Ligue 1 giants, making 24 league appearances and registering one assist, before making his loan a permanent move in June.
Kasimpasa possible starting lineup:
Gianniotis; Winck, Opoku, Ciftpinar, Ozcan; Sadiku; Fall, Hajradinovic, Kara, Ouanes; Da Costa
Adana Demirspor possible starting lineup:
Donmezer; Manev, Guler, Gravillon, Rodriguez, Mohammadi; Aydogan, Muanza, Kol; Sari, Barasi
We say: Kasimpasa 2-1 Adana Demirspor
Kasimpasa and Adana Demirspor have stumbled into the new season and will head into Sunday's game looking to find their feet. However, Kasimpasa's home advantage gives them a slight edge here and we predict that they will build on their draw against Hatayspor to secure their first win of the campaign.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joshua Ojele
