The Turkish Super Lig returns with a fresh set of fixtures as Sivasspor and Gaziantep square off at the Yeni Sivas 4 Eylul Stadyumu on Saturday.
The hosts will be looking to end their run of six games without a win across all competitions, while the visitors head into the game fresh off the back of picking up their first win of the season.
Match preview
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Sivasspor put on a resilient defensive display last Sunday, when they held high-flying Fenerbache to a 1-1 draw at the Estadio Sukru Saracoglu.
Riza Calimbay's men fell a goal behind when Nigerian midfielder Bright Osayi-Samuel struck midway through the first half, but Pedro Henrique converted his penalty on the stroke of half time to force a share of the spoils and deny the Yellow Canaries a fourth win on the trot.
Prior to that, the Yigidolar ended their run of four consecutive defeats in all competitions, courtesy of a 2-2 draw against Goztepe on home turf three Sundays ago.
Sivasspor, who secured an impressive fifth-placed finish last season, have now failed to pick up a win in their opening four league games for the first time since returning to the Turkish top flight in 2017.
However, they will feel confident of ending this dry spell this weekend as they welcome a Gaziantep side who they defeated in both home and away fixtures last term, and are unbeaten against in four of the most recent five meetings between the sides.
This weekend's visitors, on the other hand, picked up their first win of the season last Monday, when they saw off fellow strugglers Antalyaspor 2-0 at the Kalyon Stadyumu.
Following an uneventful first half, Muhammet Demir converted his penalty nine minutes after the restart before substitute Hamza Mendyl put the icing on the cake when he doubled the lead with the final kick of the game.
Prior to that, Erol Bulut's side played out a goalless draw against Besiktas, sandwiched between defeats against Fatih Karagumruk and Yeni Malatyaspor, in their opening three games of the season.
Gaziantep will now hope the win last time out can serve as a springboard for a fine run of form, as they look to move into the upper echelons of the Super Lig table.
The Sahinler, who currently occupy 14th spot, could rise as high as sixth with a win, while defeat could also see the hosts move into the top half of the table considering only two points separates the sides.
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Team News
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Calimbay will still be unable to call upon the services of 29-year-old defender Aaron Appindangoye, who is recuperating from a severe Achilles tendon injury he picked up back in January.
He is joined on the Sivasspor injury table by Nigerian forward Leke James, who sustained a back injury in the game against Goztepe on August 29.
His fellow countryman Olarenwaju Kayode will also sit out the game, as he serves the second of a three-match suspension after receiving a straight red in the aforementioned game.
Dimitris Goutas, who recently completed a move from Greek outfit Atromitos Athens, has hit the ground running, scoring two goals in two outings, and we expect the defender to team up with Caner Osmanpasa at the heart of the back line once again.
Meanwhile, Gaziantep will take to the pitch without veteran midfielder Amedej Vetrih, who continues his long journey to full fitness after coming off with a groin injury in the first half against Ankaragucu back in April.
Furkan Soyalp is another name on the club's injury list after sustaining a muscle injury against Besiktas one month ago, while Angelo Sagal is a doubt as he came off with an injury shortly after the hour mark against Antalyaspor last time out.
Bulut opted for a four-man defence in the aforementioned game, and following his side's impressive display, he could stick to this new-found formation.
With that said, the Turkish manager could name an unchanged back four of Stelios Kitsiou, Steven Caulker, Halil Ibrahim Pehlivan and former Chelsea man Papy Djilobodji, shielding Gunay Guvenc between the sticks.
Sivasspor possible starting lineup:
Yildrim; Oguz, Goutas, Osmanpasa, Ciftci; Cofie, Arslan; Henrique, Fajr, Gradel; Yatabare
Gaziantep possible starting lineup:
Guvenc; Kitsiou, Caulker, Djilobodji, Pehlivan; Figueiredo, Merkel, Messaoudi; Jefferson; Demir, Niyaz
We say: Sivasspor 1-1 Gaziantep
Both sides have struggled to get going in the new campaign, and find themselves in the bottom half of the table.
Having picked up a morale-boosting victory last time out, the visitors will head into the game full of confidence, and will be looking to keep the juggernaut rolling, but we anticipate the spoils will be shared as they are evenly matched on paper.
Top tip
Joshua Ojele
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 Sivasspor win with a probability of 50.54%. A draw had a probability of 27.9% and a win for Gaziantep had a probability of 21.59%.
The most likely scoreline for a Sivasspor win was 1-0 with a probability of 15.84%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (10.83%) and 2-1 (8.53%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (12.48%), while for a Gaziantep win it was 0-1 (9.13%). The actual scoreline of 1-1 was predicted with a 12.5% likelihood.
