Kasimpasa kick off their 2023-24 Turkish Super Lig campaign on Sunday when they go head to head with Ankaragucu at the Recep Tayyip Erdogan Stadium.
Having played out stalemates in their home and away meetings last term, both sides will be looking to get one over the other and get off and running in the new season.
Match preview
Kasimpasa endured another forgettable campaign in the Super Lig as they finished in the bottom half of the table for the fifth straight year since the 2017-18 season.
Kemal Ozdes's men lost 17 of their 36 matches while claiming 12 wins and even draws to collect 43 points and finish 10th in the table, just three points above the relegation zone.
Kasimpasa also suffered a fifth-round exit from the Turkish Cup as they were beaten 2-1 by Umraniyespor on December 20 courtesy of strikes from Antonio Mrsic and Metehan Mimaroglu.
However, the Apaciler returned the favour against Umraniyespor last Saturday, when they picked up a resounding 3-0 victory thanks to goals from Haris Hajradinovic, Berat Kalkan and Emirhan Yigit.
This capped off a solid pre-season for the Istanbul outfit, who won three of their four friendly matches, with a 1-0 loss to Qatar side Al Alarbi on July 29 being the exception.
While Kasimpasa will look to pick up from where they dropped in pre-season and kick off the new campaign on a high, they face the challenge of an opposing side who are unbeaten in six of their last seven meetings, claiming three wins and three draws since February 2019.
Like this weekend's hosts, Ankaragucu escaped the drop only by the skin of their teeth last season when they finished 11th in the standings, two points above the relegation zone.
The Ankara outfit's underwhelming campaign was owing to their struggles at home, where they won just six league matches and picked up 22 points — the division's joint fifth-worst home record.
Ankaragucu did enjoy an impressive outing in the Turkish Cup, where they beat Tuzlaspor, Besiktas and Trabzonspor to set up a two-legged semi-final showdown against Istanbul Basaksehir.
However, their dreams of reaching the final of the Turkish Cup for the first time since 1991 came to an end in the semi-finals as they fell to a 3-2 defeat against Basaksehir.
Tolunay Kafkas's men head into the new campaign off the back of a promising pre-season, where they picked up wins over Pendikspor and Fatih Karagumruk in their opening two matches before wrapping up their friendly schedule with a 3-1 loss to Konyaspor last Saturday.
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Team News
Kasimpasa will have to cope without French midfielder Mounir Chouiar, who has returned to Istanbul Basaksehir following the end of his loan spell.
Chouiar made 32 league appearances last season, scoring three goals and registering five assists, but Mortadha Ben Ouanes should be handed a starting role in his absence.
Kasimpasa have made some shrewd summer signings, including experienced defender Kenneth Omeruo and right-back Claudio Winck, who was involved in nine goals for Maritimo in the Primeira Liga last season.
Ankaragucu, on the other hand, will take to the pitch without 22-year-old midfielder Lamine Diack, who has completed a move to French outfit Nantes.
Like Kasimpasa, there are also several new faces in the visitors' squad, with the likes of Renaldo Cephas, Cem Turkmen and Efkan Bekiroglu in line to make their debuts.
Kafkas's men have also completed the signing of midfielder Tolga Cigerci from Hoffenheim, while veteran goalkeeper Rafal Gikiewicz has joined up from Augsburg.
Kasimpasa possible starting lineup:
Yildiz; Aksu, Kalkan, Aydin, Ozcan; Gul, Bahoken; Kara; Hajradinovic, Ouanes; Fall
Ankaragucu possible starting lineup:
Gungordu; Mujakic, Radakovic, Hanousek; Djokanovic, Bekiroglu, Cankaya, Kitsiou; Chatzigiovanis, Cigerci, Sowe
We say: Kasimpasa 1-0 Ankaragucu
Looking at past results between Kasimpasa and Ankaragucu, we anticipate a cagey affair at the Recep Tayyip Erdogan Stadium this weekend. While both sides are evenly matched on paper, Ozdes's men have home advantage in their favour and we fancy them grinding out a narrow victory in this one.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Joshua Ojele
