Samsunspor will hope to arrest their recent slump in the Turkish Super Lig when they welcome Bodrumspor to the Samsun 19 Mayis Stadium on Saturday.
The Red Lightning are winless in their last two league matches, and have since dropped to third place in the table, eight points behind league leaders Galatasaray who have played one fewer game.
Match preview
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Samsunspor are the surprise packages of the 2024-25 Turkish Super Lig season, with the Red Lightning coming off a season where they barely stayed up.
Appointing German football manager Thomas Reis appears to have done wonders for the Samsun-based side who started the campaign with eight wins in their opening 11 league matches.
While 26 points from 13 matches is a great return for a club of Samsunspor's status, Reis will be worried about his side's recent results. While losing a seven-match unbeaten run to Galatasaray might be overlooked, a 1-1 draw at home against lowly-placed Alanyaspor in their most recent game paints another picture.
Samsunspor will be looking to get back on track when they take on another struggling side, Bodrum, in what will be the first-ever top-flight meeting between both sides.
However, a worry for Reis's team will be the disparity between their home and away form, with the Red Lightning winning just three of seven games on home soil, compared to five of six on the road.
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Meanwhile, Omer Erdogan has not had it easy since replacing Ismet Tasdemir as Bodrum's head coach, having failed to win any of his first three matches in charge (1D, 2L).
While his side will be applauded for losing just 1-0 against the league leaders Galatasaray despite playing the second half with a man down last time out, the defeat saw the newly-promoted side drop deeper into the relegation zone, sitting 17th with 11 points.
Bodrum have now failed to win any of their last six league matches, losing four times and drawing twice since the win over Adana Demirspor on September 29.
More worrying for Erdogan is the fact that his side have failed to score in five of their last six league matches, while they have been reduced to ten men in three of those matches.
Team News
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Samsunspor will head into this match with their full squad, leaving Reis with an opportunity to refresh his squad, especially with the return of midfielder Youssef Ait Bennasser from suspension.
Olivier Ntcham and Carlo Holse, who are the team's joint-top scorers in the league, will be the men to watch for the hosts, with centre-forward Marius Mouandilmadji looking to get back among the goals.
Bodrum will head into this clash without Ege Bilsel who is suspended after getting sent off for two bookable offences last time out.
Midfielder Samet Yalcin is also suspended after picking up an unhealthy number of yellow cards, while Christophe Herelle is doubtful as he is yet to fully recover from an ankle injury.
The trio of Suleyman Ozdamar, Mustafa Erdilman, and Tunahan Akpinar are all nursing injuries that will see them miss this game.
Samsunspor possible starting lineup:
Kocuk; Yavru, Satka, Drongelen, Bola; Tait, Holse, Ntcham; Dimata, Kilinc, Mouandilmadji
Bodrumspor possible starting lineup:
Akkan; Celustka, Ergun, Ajeti, Aytemur; Fredy; Dimitrov, Aslan, Antalyali, Bayrakdar; Puscas
We say: Samsunspor 2-1 Bodrumspor
Samsunspor's recent struggles and their home form reduces their claim as strong favourites for this clash, but we believe that they will still come out with a win here as they are facing a side struggling with confidence and goalscoring.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
