Preview: Alanyaspor vs. Fenerbahce - prediction, team news, lineups

Alanyaspor sit in fifth position and with just a single point separating them from Sunday's opponents, their contest against Fenerbahce could prove crucial in the race for European qualification.

Meanwhile, the visitors currently occupy fourth spot, and they will be looking to extend their unbeaten league run to five matches on Sunday.

Match preview

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Having lost just once in their last 10 league matches, Alanyaspor will carry momentum into Sunday's home meeting with Fenerbahce.

The home side can leapfrog their opponents and move into the top four with a victory, as they look to qualify for European competition.

After thrashing Konyaspor and beating Gaziantep in the Turkish Cup quarter finals, Alanyaspor faced Kayserispor in an away contest last time out.

Despite falling behind in the 34th minute, Oguz Aydin levelled for Alanyaspor before the break, and with the encounter drifting to a draw, substitute Erencan Yardimci came up trumps to help the visitors claim a 2-1 victory.

Francesco Farioli's side will be confident that they can trouble Fenerbahce, especially as no Super Lig side has scored more home goals than Alanyaspor (29) this season.

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The visitors are unbeaten in their last four league matches, but they did see a run of three consecutive Super Lig victories come to an end in their most recent outing.

Fenerbahce knew they would face a tough encounter as they welcomed league leaders Trabzonspor to Ulker Stadium, and their task was made even trickier when Irfan Can Kahveci was given his marching orders in the 17th minute.

Trabzonspor took advantage five minutes later to take the lead, but Fenerbahce showed great resilience to clinch a point thanks to Miha Zajc's 71st-minute equaliser.

Sunday's visitors carry the third joint-best away record in the Super Lig into the contest, while they are also undefeated in their previous five league encounters.

Fenerbahce will also be encouraged by their impressive goal scoring form this season, having failed to score in just two of their 28 league matches.

Team News

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Wilson Eduardo, Daniel Candeias and Fatih Aksoy are all expected to be absent for the hosts due to injury issues.

Juanfran, Emre Akbaba, Joao Novais and Furkan Bayir could all come into the starting lineup after dropping down to the bench for the victory over Kayserispor.

Despite scoring the winner last time out, Yardimci may have to settle for a place on the bench once again for Sunday's contest.

Meanwhile, Fenerbahce are without the injured quartet of Enner Valencia, Ferdi Kadioglu, Luis Gustavo and Filip Novak.

Kahveci and Mert Hakan Yandas will also miss out as they serve their respective suspension periods.

Mesut Ozil came off the bench in the draw against Trabzonspor to make his return from injury and the former Arsenal man could be given a starting place for Sunday's encounter.

Alanyaspor possible starting lineup:

Marafona; Juanfran, Bayir, Milunovic, Bingol; Karaca, Gunes, Novais, Akbaba, Bekiroglu; Aydin

Fenerbahce possible starting lineup:

Bayindir; Osayi-Samuel, Szalai, Kim, Aziz; Zajc, Crespo; Ozil, Tufan, Rossi; Dursun

We say: Alanyaspor 1-1 Fenerbahce

With both sides faring well in recent games and with neither team wanting to give up ground in the race for the European places, we think a cagey contest on Sunday could end with the spoils being shared.