Two sides separated by only two places and three points in the Turkish Super Lig table go head to head on Saturday as Ankaragucu take on crisis club Gaziantep at Eryaman Stadium.
The hosts beat Konyaspor on Monday to move four points clear of the relegation zone, whereas Gaziantep are hovering perilously close to the bottom four courtesy of an alarming slide down the table which ultimately led to the departure of manager Erol Bulut this week.
Match preview
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Despite Gaziantep having the opportunity to climb above Ankaragucu in the Super Lig table with a victory in this match, the two sides have experienced contrasting campaigns en route to their respective positions.
The newly-promoted hosts are currently enjoying their highest position of the season, with a 1-0 triumph away to Konyaspor earlier this week lifting them up to 11th and finally giving them a bit of breathing space away from a relegation zone that they have occupied for almost half of the season so far.
Gaziantep, by contrast, enjoyed the heady heights of second place back at the start of September, having amassed 10 points from the first 12 on offer, but since then have been in freefall towards relegation danger.
Indeed, three of their four wins this season came in that first month of the campaign, since when they have won just one of their last 15 top-flight outings, picking up only nine points from the 45 on offer in that time.
GFK make the trip to the Turkish capital without a win in nine league games and with only one point now separating them from the drop zone following last weekend's miserable 2-1 home defeat to fellow strugglers Sivasspor.
That proved to be Bulut's final match in charge, with Gaziantep confirming on Friday that they had parted ways with their manager of one-and-a-half years following days of intense speculation over his future.
The fact that it took GFK so long to officially announce his departure only added to the turmoil on and off the field for a club whose boardroom is also undergoing a period of significant transition.
Ankaragucu could barely have wished for a better opponent against whom to look for back-to-back league wins for the first time this season, then, while it would be a third successive triumph across all competitions following their penalty-shootout victory over Besiktas in the Turkish Cup earlier this month.
Only one team outside the top six has won more league games than Omer Erdogan's men so far this term, although they have also lost nine of their 19 outings - one more than their opponents and the fifth-worst record in the division.
That said, rock-bottom Umraniyespor are the only team to have won fewer games than Gaziantep despite their blistering start, while the basement-dwellers are also the only team to have kept fewer clean sheets than GFK's measly tally of two.
Incidentally, one of those came in the reverse fixture against Ankaragucu as Gaziantep picked up their first win of the campaign in a 1-0 triumph back in August.
Plenty has changed since then for both sides, but the visitors will no doubt be hoping that any repeat of that scoreline could spark a similar run of form to the one they enjoyed at the beginning of the campaign, which would stave off the looming threat of relegation back to the second tier for the first time since 2018-19.
Ankaragucu form (all competitions):
- L
- L
- W
- L
- W
- W
Gaziantep form (all competitions):
- L
- D
- D
- L
- W
- L
Team News
The hosts are able to welcome Lamine Diack back for this match after the midfielder served his suspension for an accumulation of yellow cards.
However, Sitki Imdat remains a long-term absentee and Kevin Malcuit is also sidelined through injury.
Atakan Cankaya deputised at right-back in place of Malcuit last time out but was taken off at half time, so Firatcan Uzum could come in to start this time.
Ankaragucu have offloaded some recognisable names so far this month, with former Real Madrid man Jese Rodriguez and former Manchester United youngster Federico Macheda both leaving the club.
Pepe has also left for pastures new, leaving Erdogan with slightly fewer options at his disposal than at the beginning of the month.
Gaziantep's players trained without Bulut on Thursday before his exit was confirmed, and their starting XI could well change significantly depending on who is taking the reins for Saturday's match.
Whatever the situation in the dugout, the visitors will be without both Abdulkadir Parmak and Ertugrul Ersoy through injury.
Alin Tosca may have been the most likely to come in for the latter, but Gaziantep confirmed on Friday that he will take no part as he is in talks over a move to Italian side Benevento.
Former Chelsea and Sunderland defender Papy Djilobodji has also been linked with move away from the club this month, but is expected to start at the back once again in this match.
Ankaragucu possible starting lineup:
Akkan; Uzum, Mujakic, Radakovic, Xavier; Diack; Kilinc, Cigerci, Antalyali, Ctahzigiovanis; Sowe
Gaziantep possible starting lineup:
Guvenc; Kitsiou, Kizildag, Djilobodji, Pehlivan; Merkel, Jevtovic; Markovic, Maxim, Eskihellac; Figueiredo
We say: Ankaragucu 2-1 Gaziantep
Gaziantep are a club in complete turmoil at the moment, and it is difficult to see their first win in 10 league games coming away to a team that has won three of their last four in all competitions.
These two sides have kept just five clean sheets between them all season and so goals are likely at both ends, but the form book points firmly towards a home win despite the two sides being separated by only three points in the table.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Barney Corkhill
