Off the back of three straight stalemates, Konyaspor welcome Besiktas to Konya Metropolitan Municipality Stadium on Saturday in round 19 of the 2022-23 Turkish Super Lig season.
Meanwhile, the away side make the trip this weekend aiming to pick up a seventh win in eight matches across all competitions and continue their recent upturn in form.
Match preview
Besiktas kicked off 2023 on a winning note as they eased past the threat of Kasimpasa thanks to a hard-fought 2-1 win at Vodafone Park on Saturday.
First-half goals from Cenk Tosun and Wout Weghorst put Senol Gunes's men in cruise control before Ahmet Engin halved the deficit in the 69th minute to set up a thrilling finale.
Having amassed 20 of the last 24 points available, the Black Eagles have moved up to fifth place in the Turkish Super Lig table, five points off the last European spot with a game in hand.
Coming up next is the challenge of an opposing outfit with little to choose between the teams judging by recent meetings, as the last five encounters have yielded two wins apiece and a draw.
Currently on a run of just one victory in five outings on the road leading up to Saturday's contest, the visitors will be keen to turn their away fortunes around as the campaign reaches its halfway stage.
Konyaspor had to make do with a point for the third match in a row following a 3-3 draw against Fatih Karagumruk at Ataturk Olimpiyat on Tuesday.
After taking a commanding two-goal lead through Magomed Ozdoev and Mbaye Diagne, Ilhan Palut's men were pegged back by Mame Diouf's quickfire double, but they managed to go ahead once again through Kerim Frei, only for Diouf to restore parity in stoppage time.
As a result, the Anatolian Eagles have dropped to seventh place in the league standings and are now a whopping seven points adrift of Istanbul Basaksehir in third.
Ahead of their cup involvement against Gaziantep five days later, Saturday's hosts set out to secure a return to winning ways and get their 2023 up and running.
Team News
Besiktas' Wout Weghorst is set to join Manchester United on loan until the end of the season, meaning that the Dutchman will not be available for selection this weekend.
The away side are also set to be without the services of Rachid Ghezzal and Kerem Kesgin, who are currently sidelined with knee and ankle injuries respectively.
Thirty-one-year-old Cenk Tosun has scored five goals in his last five appearances and will be aiming to continue his rich vein of form in front of goal.
Off the back of his hat-trick against Karagumruk last time out, Konyaspor's Mame Diouf is now up to seven league goals for the season in just 12 outings.
Ogulcan Ulgun was shown his fourth yellow card of the campaign in the aforementioned game, and the defender is now just one caution away from incurring a suspension.
Konyaspor possible starting lineup:
Erenturk; Guilherme, Calvo, Demirbag, Oguz; Ulgun, Hadziahmetovic; Amilton, Cekici, Michalak; Diouf
Besiktas possible starting lineup:
Gunok; Masuaku, Sanuc, Welinton, Bingol; Redmond, Fernandes, Ucan, N'Koudou; Tosun, Muleka
We say: Konyaspor 1-2 Besiktas
Besiktas have turned a corner in recent weeks and will fancy their chances against a Konyaspor side who have been largely unconvincing of late. We are anticipating a keenly-contested affair with the away side narrowly piping their hosts to all three points.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Adepoju Marvellous
