Umraniyespor take on Adana Demirspor in the latest round of Turkish Super Lig fixtures on Monday afternoon.
The home side are bottom of the league table, now eight points from safety, while the visitors are up in fifth after a solid first half of the season.
Match preview
After being promoted to the Super Lig last season, Umraniyespor have failed to adapt to the new level, and they are in real trouble of being relegated if they do not start to turn around their form.
Monday's hosts have picked up just five points on their own patch all season, the joint-worst record in the league, last recording a home victory in a 3-1 triumph against Alanyaspor back in November.
There have been some encouraging signs from Recep Ucar's side, recently going on a run of just one defeat in eight games across all competitions, picking up what could be a vital win away at relegation-threatened Ankaragucu in the process.
In the last few weeks, however, things have started to go downhill again, with Umraniyespor losing their last five matches in all competitions, although they fought valiantly in narrow defeats to Fenerbahce and Galatasaray.
Last time out, Ucar's men were in the lead twice against Galatasaray, but a second-half brace from Mauro Icardi condemned them to another loss, and they now face another difficult task against an in-form side on Monday.
Indeed, Adana Demirspor have been in fantastic form of late, losing just one of their last six games, while they also added to their already impressive attacking record in a very impressive 6-0 home victory against Istanbulspor.
The Blue Lightnings now trail third-placed Istanbul Basaksehir by just two points, so the Europa Conference League places are still well within reach if they have a strong second half of the season.
In the reverse fixture, Vincenzo Montella's side scraped a 1-0 victory courtesy of a sixth-minute Kevin Rodrigues effort, a win that continued their very good record against Umraniyespor, winning five and drawing one of their last six games against Monday's opponents.
Demirspor have looked particularly impressive on their travels this season, posing the third-best away record of any side in the Turkish top flight, and they won 2-1 in their last away match at Sivasspor.
In their last outing, the Blue Lightnings picked up a decent point in a 1-1 draw against Fenerbahce, but in truth they will be disappointed not to have taken all three, with Cherif Ndiaye's late goal being cancelled out by an Enner Valencia effort minutes later.
Team News
Umraniyespor midfielder Durel Avounou will miss out after being sent off in the 3-2 defeat at Galatasaray, so Serkan Goksu could get the nod in the engine room, playing alongside Kartal Yilmaz and Oguz Gurbalak.
Centre-back Allyson Aires is a doubt, with the Brazilian centre-back going off injured in the recent 2-1 defeat against Fenerbahce, so Alexandru Epureanu and Isaac Sackey are the likely choices in the heart of defence.
As for Adana Demirspor, Fredrik Gulbrandsen is making progress in his recovery from injury, but Monday's game is likely to come a little too soon for the forward to make an appearance, so Henry Onyekuru is set to lead the line.
Attacking midfielder Younes Belhanda is the Blue Lightnings' biggest threat in front of goal, weighing in with six goals and five assists in 19 appearances so far this season, and he is a sure-fire starter, accompanying Badou Ndiaye in the engine room.
Umraniyespor possible starting lineup:
Ozdemir; Popov, Sackey, Epureanu, Atasayar; Goksu, Yilmaz, Gurbulak; Ayik, Geraldo, Nayir
Adana Demirspor possible starting lineup:
Ozbir; Svensson, Cetin, Guler, Rodrigues; Stambouli, Belhanda, Akbaba, Ndiaye; Akintola, Onyekuru
We say: Umraniyespor 0-1 Adana Demirspor
It is rare that Umraniyespor get completely outplayed, but they are losing far too many games nonetheless, and they are likely to come unstuck again in a closely-contested game against Adana Demirspor on Monday.
While it is unlikely the visitors run away with it, their recent form indicates they have the quality required to pick up a second away win on the spin, so we expect a repeat of the scoreline in the reverse fixture.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Dominic Lund
