Alanyaspor will be looking to bounce back from a 4-1 defeat when they play host to Antalyaspor in the Super Lig on Saturday.
The visitors, on the other hand, are in imperious form as they bid to claim a sixth consecutive victory.
Match preview
Alanyaspor enter Saturday's contest just a point adrift of the top four, but they are embroiled in a battle with a number of teams for European qualification.
Saturday's hosts have enjoyed a promising run of results, losing only three of their last 14 league fixtures to put them firmly in the hunt for a top-four place.
However, their quest for European qualification suffered a blow last weekend when Alanyaspor were hammered 4-1 by Besiktas, who as a result of the victory sit just two points behind them in the league table.
Efecan Karaca cancelled out Michy Batshuayi's early opener, but a Josef de Souza effort was followed by Batshuayi's second goal of the game to give Besiktas a 3-1 lead at the break, and a miserable afternoon for Alanyaspor was compounded when Guven Yalcin struck in the 78th minute.
The hosts will be looking to bounce back this weekend, and they will be aiming to take inspiration from their last two competitive home meetings with Antalyaspor, which both ended in a 4-0 victory to the hosts.
As for Antalyaspor, they are making a late push for the top four, but it may be too little too late for a side that have won their last five matches.
Sitting in ninth position ahead of Saturday's contest, Nuri Sahin's charges are six points adrift of fourth-placed Istanbul Basaksehir.
Whether Antalyaspor can make a run for the European places remains to be seen, but what is certain is the impressive turnaround that they have performed since a goalless draw against Besiktas on February 6.
That stalemate against the Black Eagles left Saturday's visitors in the bottom four after 24 matches, but since then, they have won seven of their eight league matches.
The latest of those wins occurred last weekend, when a Haji Wright brace combined with strikes from Naldo and Luiz Adriano helped Antalyaspor thrash Hatayspor 4-1 and with their last five results amounting to a 12-3 scoreline, Saturday's visitors will enter Saturday's contest brimming with confidence.
- W
- W
- L
- W
- W
- L
- W
- W
- L
- W
- W
- L
- D
- W
- W
- W
- W
- W
- L
- W
- W
- W
- W
- W
Team News
Famara Diedhiou has missed the last two matches for the hosts through injury and the forward remains a doubt for Saturday's contest.
Francesco Farioli could be tempted to make a change in midfield, with Emre Akbaba set to replace Umut Gunes.
Karaca may have scored last weekend, but his main strength this season has been creating goals, demonstrated by his 10 assists in the league this season, and he will be pivotal if his side are to break down the Antalyaspor defence.
The visitors, meanwhile, are expected to be without the services of Admir Mehmedi, who has missed the last four matches due to injury.
Following their impressive performance last time out, Antalyaspor are set to name an unchanged lineup for Saturday's encounter.
Wright will provide the goal threat for the visitors after scoring a brace against Hatayspor.
Alanyaspor possible starting lineup:
Marafona; Juanfran, Bayir, Aksoy, Borja; Karaca, Akbaba, Novais, Bekiroglu, Bingol; Candeias
Antalyaspor possible starting lineup:
Boffin; Floranus, Sari, Naldo, Vural; Ndao, Ozmert, Fernando, Sinik; Adriano, Wright
We say: Alanyaspor 1-3 Antalyaspor
Antalyaspor cruised to a 3-0 victory in the reverse fixture, and with the visitors currently in scintillating form, they could complete a league double over Alanyaspor with a win on Saturday.
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Alanyaspor win with a probability of 50.74%. A win for Antalyaspor had a probability of 25.96% and a draw had a probability of 23.3%.
The most likely scoreline for an Alanyaspor win was 2-1 with a probability of 9.64%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-0 (8.96%) and 2-0 (7.97%). The likeliest Antalyaspor win was 1-2 (6.55%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (10.83%). The actual scoreline of 1-3 was predicted with a 2.6% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole correctly predicted a 1-3 win for Antalyaspor in this match.
