Preview: Besiktas vs. Gaziantep - prediction, team news, lineups

On Friday, Besiktas will welcome Gaziantep to Vodafone Park, and the home side will be aiming to extend their unbeaten run to four games in all competitions.

As for the visitors, they head into the encounter in 7th place - two points above their opponents - and they are looking to claim their fourth consecutive victory.

Match preview

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After ending 2021 with a 1-0 victory over Altay in the Turkish Cup, Besiktas began the new year with silverware, prevailing in a penalty shootout in the Turkish Super Cup against Antalyaspor.

At the weekend, Besiktas returned to league action, but they were unable to claim all three points as Rizespor held them to a 2-2 draw.

The Black Eagles took the lead on two occasions, thanks to a Michy Batshuayi spot kick and an Emirhan Ilkhan strike, but they were pegged back twice as Joel Pohjanpalo scored a brace to ensure that the spoils were shared.

That draw leaves Besiktas four points adrift of the European places, and they will be confident of closing that gap on Friday as they look to continue their impressive home form.

Friday's hosts have collected 22 of their 29 points from home games this season, while they have only failed to score once in the league at Vodafone Park this term.

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Meanwhile, Gaziantep head into the encounter in a rich vein of form having avoided defeat in their last six games in all competitions.

They began the new year with a home fixture against Fatih Karagumruk last Sunday, and it was an encounter that resulted in the hosts collecting all three points.

Goals from Furkan Soyalp, Muhammet Demir and Joao Figueiredo helped Gaziantep claim a commanding 3-1 victory, leaving Erol Bulut's side two points adrift of the top four ahead of Friday's contest.

Despite picking up the win last weekend, Gaziantep may be slightly pessimistic ahead of their trip to Istanbul given the fact that they have struggled away from home this season.

The visitors have won only once on the road in the league this term, while in their ten away fixtures, they have failed to score on five occasions.

Team News

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Besiktas will be without Georges-Kevin N'Koudou due to injury, while Domagoj Vida and Francisco Montero are both suspended.

The hosts have been affected by a number of coronavirus cases recently, but after spending time in quarantine, Oguzhan Ozyakup, Rachid Ghezzal, Miralem Pjanic, Cyle Larin and Kenan Karaman are all available for Besiktas.

Batshuayi has scored seven league goals this season, and he will be given the responsibility of leading the line on Friday.

Meanwhile, the visitors are expected to be missing the duo of Jefferson and Recep Niyaz due to injury problems.

Gaziantep will also be without Steven Caulker, who is currently on international duty at the Africa Cup of Nations with Sierra Leone.

Figueiredo and Demir are expected to start up front once again, and they will head into Friday's contest in a confident mood after grabbing a goal apiece last weekend.

Besiktas possible starting lineup:

Destanoglu; Rosier, Welinton, Saatci, Yilmaz; Ghezzal, Josef, Pjanic, Ozyakup, Larin; Batshuayi

Gaziantep possible starting lineup:

Guvenc; Ersoy, Tosca, Pehlivan; Kitsiou, Soyalp, Merkel, Maxim, Mendyl; Figueiredo, Demir

We say: Besiktas 2-1 Gaziantep

Besiktas have won seven of their 10 home league games this term, and with Gaziantep struggling on their travels this season, we think that the hosts will edge out the visitors to claim all three points.