Two sides separated by a single point in the middle of the Turkish Super Lig table will do battle at the Gursel Aksel Stadium on Sunday, as Goztepe SK welcome Konyaspor.
The hosts dropped to seventh spot following a defeat last Friday, while their visitors narrowed the gap with a hard-fought victory on Sunday.
Match preview
© Imago
Goztepe SK return to action on Sunday aiming to move back into the Turkish Super Lig's top six, having enjoyed a pleasing start to their return to the top flight.
After winning promotion from the second tier last time around, Goz Goz currently sit seventh having earned 15 points from their first 10 outings, winning four of those while only suffering three defeats.
They have impressed at both ends of the pitch thus far, with only the division's top four sides having topped their 17 goals while only five sides have conceded fewer than the 13 they have allowed, and Stanimir Stoilov's side have excelled particularly on home turf, winning four and drawing one of their first five league outings at the Gursel Aksel Stadium.
Indeed, their last five matches have produced two home victories and three losses on the road, most recently visiting Gaziantep last Friday and falling short, depsite leading 1-0 through Ahmed Ildiz until the final 15 minutes, as Christopher Lungoyi and Deian Sorescu turned the game on its head late on and sent Stoilov's men home empty-handed.
Now trailing sixth-placed Sivasspor by two points with a game in hand, Goztepe will bid to return to the top six with a fifth straight home victory on Sunday.
Their visitors, meanwhile, make the trip on Sunday aiming to make it back-to-back wins to leapfrog Goze Goze, having moved within a point of the hosts last weekend.
After avoiding relegation by a single point last time around, Konyaspor currently sit 10th in the Turkish Super Lig having picked up 14 points from their opening 10 games.
They dropped deep into the bottom half following back-to-back away defeats at the hands of Besiktas and Gaziantep FK in October, but the Anadolu Kartali were able to bounce back in the Turkish Cup, prevailing in a 4-0 third-round victory away at Elaziz Belediyespor thanks to Melih Bostan's brace and goals from Adem Eren Kabak and Yasir Subasi, before facing a tough task at home to Istanbul Basaksehir on Sunday.
Then following the departure of Ali Camdali and the appointment of Recep Ucar, they came through that test with an impressive victory, going 1-0 and 3-1 up thanks to an Alassane Ndao hat-trick and standing strong after Krzysztof Piatek halved the deficit in injury time.
Having now rebuilt some confidence with consecutive wins, particularly last weekend's triumph to climb to 10th spot, Konyaspor will now aim to make it three straight wins and two in the Turkish Super Lig under their new boss to move back into the top half of the table and ahead of their hosts.
Team News
Goztepe will be boosted by the returns of Anthony Dennis and Isaac Solet on Sunday, after both served suspension against Gaziantep last time out, and they could come back into the engine room from the outset.
Romulo, who leads their scoring charts with four goals in nine appearances this term, returned to the bench for last weekend's game after picking up an injury, and he will hope to come back in from the start too, likely joining Chelsea loanee David Datro Fofana up front.
David Tijanic will offer support through the centre, while Ahmed Ildiz will hope to keep his place in the midfield after starting and scoring in Solet and Dennis's absence last time out.
Recep Ucar may opt to deploy an unchanged Konyaspor starting XI from last week's win over Istanbul Basaksehir, with Alassane Ndao bound to again star on the right-hand side after netting all three of their goals in that game.
He should again join Pedrinho and Yusuf Erdogan in support of a lone striker, with Blaz Kramer again hoping to get the nod over Umut Nayir to lead the line in his search for a first goal of the season.
Elsehwere, Marko Jevtovic and Danijel Aleksic will continue their partnership in the engine room while Riechedly Bazoer and Adil Demirbag will again line up at the heart of a back four.
Goztepe SK possible starting lineup:
Lis; Bokele, Heliton, Gunter; Sangare, Ildiz, Solet, Silva; Tijanic; Fofana, Romulo
Konyaspor possible starting lineup:
Slowik; Yazgili, Bazoer, Demirbag, Guilherme; Aleksic, Jevtovic; Ndao, Pedrinho, Erdogan; Kramer
We say: Goztepe SK 1-1 Konyaspor
Konyaspor looked rejuvenated under new management in an inspired home victory last time out, but they face another tough test on Sunday against a Goztepe side who have shone on their own patch this term.
In what promises to be a tight mid-table clash, we see a share of the spoils as the most likely outcome.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Sam Varley
