Antalyaspor and Yeni Malatyaspor will do battle on Saturday, in a clash between sides at the wrong end of the Turkish Super Lig table.
The hosts currently sit in the relegation zone with five points from their first six league outings, while their visitors are just a point better off in 14th spot.
Match preview
After narrowly avoiding relegation last term, Antalyaspor headed into the new campaign with the hopes of a more comfortable finish, and they were forced to settle for a point on the opening day as Goztepe hit a 92nd-minute equaliser after Fredy looked to have fired them to a 1-0 win.
Ersun Yanal's side then bounced back from a defeat to Fenerbache with a dramatic 3-2 win over Rizespor, as Haji Wright completed his hat-trick with a 100th-minute winner, after the visitors looked to have grabbed a point in the 93rd minute through Damjan Dokovic.
The Akrepler have been unable to build on that though, falling to a 2-0 defeat to Gaziantep and a 3-2 loss at the hands of title-chasing Besiktas in the following games.
They now come into Saturday's game on the back of a draw, as they held Faith Karagumruk to a goalless stalemate away from home, providing a positive platform to build on.
Yeni Malatyaspor arrive also looking to reverse their fortunes after suffering three straight defeats in the Turkish top flight.
After a 5-1 thrashing to Trabzonspor on the opening day, YMS bounced back with consecutive victories, firstly defeating Goztepe 1-0 away from home before Adem Buyuk and Benjamin Tetteh fired them to a 2-0 win at home to Gaziantep to move onto six points from three games.
They have been unable to build a winning run though, and now come into the game on the back of three straight losses, conceding eight goals in those matches.
After 3-0 and 4-3 losses to Besiktas and Faith Karagumruk respectively, Irfan Buz's side met Sivasspor last time out, and a Dimitris Goutas goal made the difference in a 1-0 win for their opponents.
That saw them drop to 14th spot, while a defeat on Saturday would send them below their hosts, meaning Buz will be desperate for his side to quickly correct their form to avoid being dragged into the bottom four.
- D
- L
- W
- L
- L
- D
- L
- W
- W
- L
- L
- L
Team News
Antalyaspor will come in with a clean bill of health, although Yanal will have to decide whether to make changes given his side's disappointing form.
Enzo Crivelli should lead the line, as he looks for his first goal of the season after joining on loan from Istanbul Basaksehir.
Haji Wright offers plenty of threat from the right-hand side, having hit a hat-trick in their 3-2 win over Rizespor.
Experienced former Turkey international Nuri Sahin is a key man at the base of midfield, having made 52 appearances for his country.
The visitors will be without left-back Karim Hafez, who is sidelined with an injury, and Oussame Haddadi should deputise in the back four.
They boast a dangerous front three consisting of striker Benjamin Tetteh and wingers Adem Buyuk and Mounir Chouiar.
Antalyaspor possible starting lineup:
Boffin; Floranus, Kudryashov, Sari, Vural; Sahin, Poli; Amilton, Milosevic, Wright; Crivelli
Yeni Malatyaspor possible starting lineup:
Ozbir; Eskihellac, Wallace, Ciftpinar, Haddadi; Ndong, Mallan, Aabid; Buyuk, Tetteh, Chouiar
We say: Antalyaspor 2-3 Yeni Malatyaspor
In what could be a dramatic affair, we see the visitors' accomplished front line just getting them over the line against the struggling hosts.
Both sides will be keen to return to winning ways, but YMS arguably boast more quality and should have enough to secure all three points.
Top tip
Sam Varley
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 Antalyaspor win with a probability of 42.77%. A win for Yeni Malatyaspor had a probability of 29.5% and a draw had a probability of 27.7%.
The most likely scoreline for an Antalyaspor win was 1-0 with a probability of 12.55%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (8.5%) and 2-0 (8.21%). The likeliest Yeni Malatyaspor win was 0-1 (9.95%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (13%). The actual scoreline of 1-0 was predicted with a 12.6% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted a 1-0 win for Antalyaspor in this match.
