Kasimpasa will be looking for their fourth win in the last five games against struggling Istanbulspor on Friday night at the Recep Tayyip Erdogan Stadyumu.

Despite the huge discrepancy in the Super Lig table between the two teams, both Kasimpasa and Istanbulspor go into this match on the back of matchday eight victories - Kasimpasa defeated Sivasspor 1-0 away from home, while Istanbulspor claimed a 2-1 home win over Ankaragucu.

Match preview

The home side have been on a very good run of late, winning three of their last four Super Lig encounters, including victories over Adana Demirspor, Fatih Karagumruk and most recently Sivasspor.

The intervening defeat to Fenerbahce was perhaps a sign that Kasimpasa still lags a bit behind the Turkish football elite, but as the current standings show, the team are perfectly capable of challenging for one of the European places this season.

The three wins in the last four games came after a prolonged winless period from late August to mid-September, when Kemal Ozdes's team suffered one defeat and played out three draws against Hatayspor, Pendikspor and Alanyaspor.

Although the team may well be in contention for a place in Europe next season, their home record this Super Lig season has been anything but stellar, with only two wins in five games, losing two of their last three, and going without scoring a goal in each of those games.

Istanbulspor, on the other hand, finally got their first win of the season last weekend with a 2-1 home win over Ankaragucu, which also ended their streak of five straight defeats.

During that disastrous run, Istanbulspor conceded two or more goals four times and went scoreless in four of the five matches.

Such an extended streak of poor results inflicted changes in the team's coaching staff, with Hakan Yakin being appointed the new manager of the team, with Olcay Demir stepping down as interim manager and joining Yakin as an assistant coach, and the first victory last weekend was the perfect start for Yakin.

The team's away record, however, is still in need of improvement, with no wins and only one goal scored in the three matches they have played so far in this Super Lig season.

Team News

Kasimpasa welcome Istanbulspor on Friday night with an almost fully-fit squad, with only Iron Gomis questionable after being substituted off in the 65th minute as a precaution in the last match against Sivasspor.

Otherwise, the visitors should watch out for Aytac Kara, as the central midfielder has already scored six goals this season, which is the fourth-most in the Super Lig this season.

Istanbulspor have two injury worries ahead of this match - Ali Yasar and Alassane Ndao were substituted off in the match against Ankaragucu as a precaution.

Vefa Temel and Mendy Mamadou could take their place in the starting XI if the former two are unavailable for Friday's match.

The biggest threat for the visitors is likely to come from Ibrahim Yilmaz, who has already scored two goals for Istanbulspor this season.

Kasimpasa possible starting lineup:
Gianniotis; Winck, Omeruo, Ciftpinar, Duhan Aksu; Gul, Hajradinovic, Kara, Fall, Ben Ouanes; Ngoy

Istanbulspor possible starting lineup:
Jensen; Duhaney, Erdogan, Coly, Temel; Vorobjovas, Sankaya, Jackson, Mamadou, Loshaj; Traore

We say: Kasimpasa 2-1 Istanbulspor

Although Istanbulspor ended their losing streak last weekend with their first win of the season against Ankaragucu, Kasimpasa are in a better position having won three of their last four games.

Nevertheless, a strong performance is expected from Yakin and his team to carry the momentum from the last game.


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