Kasimpasa and Besiktas draw the curtain on their 2023-24 Turkish Super Lig campaign when they square off at the Recep Tayyip Erdogan Stadium on Sunday.
The Black Eagles head into the weekend fresh off the back of clinching their 11th Turkish Cup title and will be looking to close out the season on a positive note.
Match preview
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Kasimpsa's push for European football suffered a huge setback last Saturday when they played out a goalless draw with Caykur Rizespor at the Caykur Didi Stadium.
The two sides were made to rue their wasteful display in front of goal as they squandered a plethora of goalscoring opportunities before settling for a share of the spoils.
Kasimpasa now return home, where they are on a run of two consecutive victories, beating Samsunspor 1-0 on April 27, two weeks before claiming a 3-1 win over 10-man Antalyaspor.
Sami Ugurlu's men find themselves just outside the European qualifying places as they sit just fifth in the Super Lig table with 53 points from 37 matches, three points and one place behind Sunday's hosts.
While Kasimpasa set out in search of a vital victory this weekend, they take on an opposing side who are unbeaten in 14 of their last 20 encounters, claiming 11 wins and three draws since October 2009.
Besiktas, on the other hand, clinched their 11th Turkish Cup title on Thursday when they fought back from behind to claim a dramatic 3-2 victory over Trabzonspor at the Ataturk Olympic Stadium.
In an action-packed affair, Braga loanee Mutassim Al-Musrati grabbed the headlines as he netted the winning goal in the fourth minute of stoppage time to hand the Besiktas their first cup triumph since 2021.
Nigerian striker Paul Onuachu had put Trabzonspor in front inside the opening 13 minutes, and after Rachid Ghezzal and Salih Ucan scored to turn the game on its head, former Arsenal man Nicolas Pepe retorted parity in the 89th minute, moments before Al Musrati scored the all-important goal.
Following what has been a challenging campaign, manager Serdar Topraktepe will be delighted with the cup victory as the 16-time Turkish champions have now secured their spot in the Europa League playoff round,
Besiktas head into this weekend's season finale with little or no pressure as they look to extend their unbeaten run to six games across all competitions and close out the season on a high.
The Black Eagles will need to show their mettle at the Recep Tayyip Erdogan Stadium as they have failed to win any of their last five away matches in all competitions, losing twice and picking up three draws since picking up a 2-0 victory at Istanbulspor on February 25.
Team News
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Kasimpsa remain without the services of 23-year-old forward Erdem Cetinkaya, who continues his lengthy spell on the sidelines after suffering a knee injury back in December.
He is joined on the club's injury table by Moroccan midfielder Dries Saddiki who is also yet to feature this year as he is currently recuperating from a severe ligament injury.
Besiktas will have to cope without Portuguese midfielder Gedson Fernandes, who is currently suspended after crossing the yellow threshold with his booking against Hatayspor on May 18.
On the injury front, the Black Eagles will be missing several players down the spine of the team as Jackson Muleka (muscle), Tayfur Bingol (thigh) and Rachid Ghezzal (muscle) all continue their spells on the sidelines.
Croatian forward Ante Rebic has been out of action since coming off with a thigh injury in February's game against Kayserispor while Daniel Amartey is ruled out due to personal reasons.
Kasimpasa possible starting lineup:
Gianniotis; Gul, Porozo, Ciftpinar, Ouanes; Sadiku; Fall, Hajradinovic, Kara, Ngoy; Da Costa
Besiktas possible starting lineup:
Destanoglu; Svensson, Colley, Sanuc, Masuaku; Al-Musrati; Kilicsoy, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Tiknaz, Rashica; Tosun
We say: Kasimpasa 1-2 Besiktas
Buoyed by their cup success, Besiktas will head into the season finale in sky-high spirits as they look to end what has been a challenging campaign on a positive note. That said, we predict that the visitors will come away with all three points in this one, albeit by the odd goal.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joshua Ojele
