Kayserispor will be looking to move into the top six of the Super Lig standings when they play host to Alanyaspor on Monday evening.
Meanwhile, the visitors to Kadir Has Stadium are looking for the victory that would put some breathing space between themselves and the bottom four.
Match preview
Having finished in ninth position in 2022-23, the natural progression for Kayserispor is to try to finish higher this time around.
As it stands, everything is going to plan, with the Anatolian Star collecting 16 points from their opening 10 fixtures and only suffering two defeats.
Those setbacks came at the hands of Besiktas and Ankaraguru within the space of a couple of weeks of each other, but Recep Ucar's side have responded with successive triumphs.
After a 3-1 win over Rizespor, Kayserispor returned from Hatayspor with a 2-1 success, scoring either side of half time to end their wait for an away victory in this season's Super Lig.
Ucar's side possess the fourth best defensive record in the division, but five of their 12 league goals in 2023-24 have come in their last two outings.
From the perspective of Alanyaspor, they have endured somewhat of an unusual start as their season began with a win and four draws.
Since then, though, four defeats have been posted in five games, with their solitary success during that period coming at home to Fatih Karagumruk.
Narrow defeats to Trabzonspor and Sivasspor have been posted in their last two outings, as many as eight matches now passing by since Alanyaspor kept a clean sheet.
Fatih Tekke's side have also scored just one goal in four away fixtures this campaign, highlighting the size of their task on Monday evening.
Team News
Having held out for three points at Hatayspor, it is possible that Ucar will select the same Kayserispor XI.
If a change is made, Anthony Uzodimma - who has started eight of the 10 games this season - could be recalled at right-back, while the versatile Ramazan Civelek is also in contention.
Alanyaspor will be forced into at least one alteration with Richard serving a one-match suspension for four yellow cards.
Nicolas Janvier appears to be the natural replacement in central midfield, but Leroy Fer is pushing for a return from injury.
Furkan Bayir is an option in the middle of the backline if Tekke wishes to tinker with that position or change tactics.
Kayserispor possible starting lineup:
Bayazit; Sazdagi, Hosseini, Attamah, Carole; Karimi, Yilmaz; Morte, Cardoso, Mane; Thiam
Alanyaspor possible starting lineup:
Taskiran; Hadergionaj, Aksoy, Aliti, Ozdemir; Karaca, Janvier, Novais, Aydin; Eduardo, Cordova
We say: Kayserispor 2-1 Alanyaspor
Given their poor away record this season, Alanyaspor will throw everything at trying to finally get a win on the board. However, we feel that Kayserispor are playing well enough to win this contest even without reaching top gear, leading us to predict a narrow home victory.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Darren Plant
