Two sides at opposite ends of the Turkish Super Lig table will do battle on Sunday, as basement team Yeni Malatyaspor host Konyaspor.
The hosts' relegation to the second tier was recently confirmed, while their visitors sit third, just one point behind second-placed Fenerbahce with five games left to play.
Match preview
Yeni Malatyaspor have had to endure a dismal season in the Turkish Super Lig, failing to keep pace in their bid to avoid relegation.
A 17-game winless run between late October and late February all but condemned them to the drop, as they collected just five points in that spell, and, despite eventually stopping the rot by beating Adana Demirspor 1-0, they have been unable to mount a late challenge to move away from the bottom of the table.
Since then, Cihat Arslan's side have lost five consecutive matches, failing to score in the process and most recently falling to a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Galatasaray.
In the latest slump, YMS' relegation from the top flight was confirmed, and, with just five league wins to their name and nothing left to fight for, they will, at least, aim to finish the campaign on a relative high with some confidence-boosting results.
They face a particularly tough test, though, as the visitors arrive aiming to break back into the top two.
Konyaspor, on the other hand to their opponents, have enjoyed an impressive season, consistently finding themselves in the mix at the top end of the division, albeit having quickly fallen away from leaders Trabzonspor.
Nonetheless, Ilhan Palut's side were able to establish themselves in second spot until defeats to Fenerbahce and Caykur Rizespor saw them drop behind the former and into third place.
The Anadolu Kartali then made an important return to winning ways last time out, thrashing Gaziantep SK 4-1 on home turf as Endri Cekici, Ahmed Mahgoub, Amir Hadziahmetovic and Konrad Michalak all helped themselves to goals.
With that victory keeping them just a point behind Fenerbahce, Palut's side will aim to post a second straight three-point haul to apply further pressure in their search for a top-two finish and subsequent Champions League qualification.
- W
- L
- L
- L
- L
- L
- W
- W
- L
- W
- L
- W
Team News
Stevie Mallan will remain out of action for Yeni Malatyaspor, as he continues to nurse an injury.
Benjamin Tetteh should continue to lead their line, having hit six goals and contributed two assists in 22 league appearances this season, while former Wolverhampton Wanderers attacker Nouha Dicko will likely keep his place on the right wing.
Konyaspor midfielder Amar Rahmanovic will miss out on Saturday due to a suspension, but they will welcome Amilton back to action, with the winger pushing for a return to the starting XI.
Ahmed Mahgoub will keep his place in attack after netting his ninth goal of the season last time out.
Meanwhile, Sokol Cikalleshi has 10 goals to his name and will also be vying for a start after featuring off the bench in that game.
Yeni Malatyaspor possible starting lineup:
Damlu; Ozer, Campi, Awuku, Hafez; Donsah, Okechukwu; Dicko, Cagiran, Eskihellac; Tetteh
Konyaspor possible starting lineup:
Sehic; Skubic, Demirbag, Bardakci, Guilherme; Dikmen, Hadziahmetovic; Michalak, Cekici, Bytyqi; Mahgoub
We say: Yeni Malatyaspor 0-3 Konyaspor
The visitors have plenty to fight for in the final run of the season and boast more quality than their opponents, who are devoid of confidence and heading to the second tier, and we predict a dominant away win as a result.
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 Konyaspor win with a probability of 48.98%. A win for Yeni Malatyaspor had a probability of 27.31% and a draw had a probability of 23.7%.
The most likely scoreline for a Konyaspor win was 1-2 with a probability of 9.53%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-1 (8.99%) and 0-2 (7.75%). The likeliest Yeni Malatyaspor win was 2-1 (6.8%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (11.05%). The actual scoreline of 2-3 was predicted with a 3.4% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole and our data analysis both correctly predicted that Konyaspor would win this match.
