Ankaragucu welcome Istanbul Basaksehir to the Eryaman Stadium on Thursday in the second leg of their Turkish Cup semi-final.

The home side trail after losing the reverse fixture in Istanbul 1-0, with 10-man Basaksehir claiming a late winning goal.

Match preview

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Losing the first leg of their semi-final clash with Basaksehir will have hurt Ankaragucu, who thought they had escaped the Basaksehir Fatih Terim Stadium with a tie.

However, a 95th-minute winning goal from Joao Figueiredo secured the win for Basaksehir, leaving the home side trailing heading into Thursday's match in Ankara.

Tolunay Kafkas's team do not enter the game in the best form, having failed to win four of their last five games in all competitions, including the 1-0 cup loss against a short-handed side at the start of the month.

However, a 2-1 Super Lig victory over relegated Umraniyespor could be the fillip required for Ankaragucu to turn the tie around.

Encouraging results on home turn offer hope for Thursday, with the Ankara-based club unbeaten in five league fixtures at the Eryaman Stadium, picking up three wins.

Any desire to make this year's cup final could be thwarted by Basaksehir, whose first-leg win was commendable, having gone a man down in the 42nd minute.

Ahmed Touba was given a straight red just before the interlude, thus forcing Emre Belozoglu's team to play the rest of the match with a man light.

They battled through adversity to not concede and went one better, with Figueiredo scoring the late winning goal with little time remaining.

Emre's team have had a poor run on their travels in the league, claiming just one victory in their last five games domestically.

However, eliminating Galatasaray at Nef Stadium in the quarter-final implies they are a handful on their day, capable of showing the best version of themselves when necessary – they cannot be underrated on Thursday.

Team News

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Anastasios Chatzigiovanis is out with a groin injury and is not expected to feature for Ankaragucu on Thursday.

The home side have utilised a 3-4-2-1 since the start of April, and they should continue with that approach in this week's clash.

Basaksehir are expected to be without Touba, who was dismissed in the first leg between the clubs at the start of the month.

Eden Karzev, Stefano Okaka, Patryk Szysz, Danijel Aleksic and Edgar Ie are injured and unlikely to start at the Eryaman Stadium.

Ankaragucu possible starting lineup:
Akkan; Malcuit, Cankaya, Mujakic; Kitsiou, Antalyali, Dokanovic, Hanousek; Milson, Zahid; Sowe

Istanbul Basaksehir possible starting lineup:
Sengezer; Kaygisiz, Duarte, Tekdemir, Lima; Sahiner, Biglia, Ozcan; Januzaj, Figueiredo, Gurler

We say: Ankaragucu 1-1 Istanbul Basaksehir (Istanbul Basaksehir win 2-1 on aggregate)

Basaksahir have not been beaten in 13 matches with Ankaragucu, and that run without losing to the side from Ankara should see both teams play a draw on the night, which would see the Istanbul side go through.


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