Two Turkish clubs sitting just outside of the top four will lock horns on Saturday afternoon, as Alanyaspor welcome Super Lig holders Besiktas to the Bahcesehir Okullari Arena.
The visitors are looking to avoid a fourth successive away defeat, while the hosts are hoping to extend their unbeaten home run to five matches.
Match preview
Alanyaspor's impressive eight-game unbeaten run came to an end just before the international break when they suffered a 2-0 defeat against Rizespor.
That result saw Bulent Korkmaz's side slip down from third to fifth in the Super Lig standings, but only goal difference separates them from Galatasaray in fourth.
Competing in their sixth successive top-flight campaign, Alanyaspor are hoping to qualify for Europe for the second successive year, after finishing fifth last season and reaching the Europa League playoffs.
However, with just five points separating Hatayspor in second and Istanbul Basaksehir in ninth place, a decline in form for the Orange and Greens would see them slip further down the table and closer to the bottom half.
Alanyaspor's defensive frailties in recent weeks will be a slight concern for Korkmaz, as they have conceded in each of their last six league matches.
The Orange and Greens have also conceded in each of their last five meetings against Besiktas, so they may be in for a challenging afternoon on home soil this weekend.
© Reuters
Besiktas, meanwhile, seem to have carried their dreadful Champions League form over to the Super Lig, as they have now lost three of their last four league matches, two of which were away from home.
League leaders Trabzonspor condemned the Turkish giants to their most recent defeat just before the international break, with a dramatic 96th-minute winner from Andreas Cornelius securing all three points at the Vodafone Arena.
The pressure is now beginning to mount on head coach Sergen Yalcin, who now sees his side sitting 10 points behind Trabzonspor at the top, and hopes of retaining their top-flight title are seemingly slipping away.
Since Alanyaspor were promoted to the top flight in 2016-17, Besiktas have beaten them eight times in 10 meetings. They did, however, lose 2-1 in last season's encounter at the Bahcesehir Okullari Arena.
Victory for Besiktas on Saturday could see them climb into the top four if Galatasaray fail to win the Intercontinental derby against rivals Fenerbahce.
- D
- D
- W
- W
- D
- L
- L
- W
- L
- W
- L
- L
- L
- W
- L
- L
- L
- L
Team News
© Reuters
Alanyaspor's only injury concern is with defender Cristian Borja, who continues to recover from a broken hand, so Tayfur Bingol is set to fill in at left-back once again as a result.
Midfielder Fatih Aksoy, as well as forwards Famara Diedhiou and Davidson, have all served one-match suspensions and are now in contention to start on Saturday.
As for Besiktas, experienced midfielder Miralem Pjanic picked up an injury on international duty with Bosnia-Herzegovina – forcing him to miss their crucial World Cup qualifier against Ukraine – and he will now be assessed ahead of kickoff to see if he can feature this weekend.
Striker Michy Batshuayi is also doubtful with a back problem but he has taken part in first-team training so could be in contention to feature.
However, Canadian Cyle Larin is expected to lead the line from the start and could be joined in attack by wingers Rachid Ghezzal and Georges-Kevin N'Koudou.
Alanyaspor possible starting lineup:
Kirintili; Juanfran, Milunovic, Mevlja, Bingol; Gunes, Aksoy; Karaca, Akbaba, Davidson; Diedhiou
Besiktas possible starting lineup:
Destanoglu; Rosier, Welinton, Vida, Yilmaz; Ucan, Josef, Hutchinson; Ghezzal, Larin, N'Koudou
We say: Alanyaspor 2-2 Besiktas
After failing to win their last league encounters before the international break, both Alanyaspor and Besiktas will be keen to claim all three points on Saturday.
An entertaining clash with plenty of goalmouth action could be on the cards at the Bahcesehir Okullari Arena, though both sides may be forced to share the spoils this time around.
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 Besiktas win with a probability of 40.8%. A win for Alanyaspor had a probability of 36.11% and a draw had a probability of 23.1%.
The most likely scoreline for a Besiktas win was 1-2 with a probability of 8.57%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-1 (6.4%) and 0-2 (5.42%). The likeliest Alanyaspor win was 2-1 (8.01%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (10.12%). The actual scoreline of 2-0 was predicted with a 4.7% likelihood.
