Preview: Alanyaspor vs Eyupspor - prediction, team news, lineups

Alanyaspor and Eyupspor will do battle at the GAIN Park Stadium in their gameweek 20 Turkish Super Lig encounter.

The home side are 10th in the standings with 22 points after 19 matches, while the visitors are firmly mired in relegation trouble, sitting 16th in the table.

Match preview

Alanyaspor will enter this fixture winless in their last three competitive fixtures (D2, L1), which has left them stuck in 10th place in the current league campaign.

Before the recent spate of undesired results, Joao Pereira’s team enjoyed a seven-game unbeaten run (W4, D3), and they will be desperate to get back to winning ways on Saturday.

With only four victories after 19 league encounters, the Thunders remain one of the sides with the fewest victories in the Turkish top division.

Draws have been their biggest undoing, having recorded a league-high 10 stalemates this term, and with only seven points separating them from the drop zone, the home team need to start grinding out results if they are to secure their top-flight status.

Their attack is also culpable for their current struggle, scoring 19 goals after the same number of fixtures.

That said, the hosts will be satisfied with their position in the standings, considering that they accumulated 22 points at this stage of last season but were 12th in the table.

Besides their wretched league form, the Alanya-based team will also be out to end a six-game winless run against the visiting side.

Eyupspor gained promotion two seasons ago after emerging as champions of the second division.

Last season, the visiting side finished sixth in the top flight, but they have found the competition much more difficult this term, losing 10 of their 19 league fixtures.

That said, Eyupspor are unbeaten in three fixtures (W1, D2), and that will be a confidence booster for them when they face Alanyaspor.

Currently sitting 16th, one point adrift of safety, the visitors still have a fighting chance of beating the drop, but they have to start getting the much-needed results beginning with this encounter.

A victory on Saturday could see them leave the dreaded drop zone, provided the teams in and around them fail to record positive results.

Alanyaspor Super Lig form:

Alanyaspor form (all competitions):

Eyupspor Super Lig form:

Eyupspor form (all competitions):

Team News

Alanyaspor have been hit with several injuries, with a lot of players ruled out of Saturday’s fixture.

Bulut Buluthan is out with a knee injury, and he is effectively out of Pereira’s plans for this encounter.

Ianis Hagi is suspended due to the accumulation of yellow cards, while Izzet Celik, Enes Keskin, Ozdemir Yusuf and Bedirhan Ozyurt all remain banned due to betting violations.

For the visiting side, they have an almost fully fit squad, with no suspensions and few injury concerns.

Nevertheless, they will have to go into this fixture without Brazilian Luccas Claro, who is currently recuperating from an ankle injury.

Umut Bozok, who has three goals to his name, is expected to be named in the starting XI as they continue their struggle to preserve their top-flight status.

Alanyaspor possible starting lineup:

Taskiran; Akdag, Aliti, Lima; Ruan, Aksoy, Makouta, Hardegjonaj; Hwang, Yalcin, Karaca

Eyupspor possible starting lineup:

Yilmaz, Ulvan, Gezeg, Ortakaya, Meras; Taskin, Radu, Raux Yao, Legowski, Pinto; Bozok

We say: Alanyaspor 1-1 Eyupspor

Both teams have shown indifferent form in recent weeks, but the visiting side, who are unbeaten in three matches, will fancy their chances of earning at least a point from this match, given their performance in their last few outings.

The visitors will back themselves against the inconsistent hosts, but it is unlikely that they will earn a win. Therefore, we reckon this match will end in a 1-1 draw.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.