Besiktas will face fellow Istanbul side Fatih Karagumruk on Tuesday with the visitors aiming to extend their current unbeaten run to five games in all competitions.
The home side have also fared well of late, losing just once in their six games, and they will be buoyed by a 2-0 victory at the weekend against Rizespor.
Match preview
© Reuters
Fatih Karagumruk occupy 11th position in the Turkish Super Lig, and they sit just two points adrift of Besiktas ahead of their meeting in midweek.
The hosts will be aiming for consecutive victories after winning at home on Saturday as Aleksandar Pesic and Salih Dursun found the net to guide their side to a 2-0 victory over Rizespor.
As a result of the win, Fatih Karagumruk have lost just two home league games this term, demonstrating that they will give Besiktas a tough test on Tuesday.
Both of those home defeats have taken place in Fatih Karagumruk's last four home games in the Turkish Super Lig, and before the win against Rizespor, Tuesday's hosts had failed to win in five consecutive home league matches.
Having scored two or more goals in only one of their last eight league matches, Volkan Demirel's side may need a clean sheet if they are to claim all three points against Besiktas.
© Reuters
Meanwhile, the visitors have began 2022 in fine fettle as they won a Turkish Super Cup title before collecting four points from their first two league games of the new year.
A Michy Batshuayi goal proved pivotal against Gaziantep with Besiktas winning by a narrow 1-0 scoreline.
That result leaves the Black Eagles in seventh position, and they head into the midweek contest only two points behind the top four.
Although, if they are to qualify for Europe, they need to improve away from home as Besiktas have won just one league game on their travels this season.
A major factor in their away day woes is that they possess a defence that has kept just one away clean sheet in the Turkish Super Lig this term, and on Tuesday the Besiktas backline will be tested by a Fatih Karagumruk side that has failed to score in just two of their 10 home league matches.
- L
- W
- D
- D
- L
- W
- W
- D
- D
- W
- L
- W
- W
- D
- W
- L
- D
- W
- W
- L
- W
- W
- D
- W
Team News
© Reuters
The hosts are without Ahmed Musa, who is currently representing Nigeria at the Africa Cup of Nations.
Caner Erkin and Tunay Torun are both available after missing the Rizespor contest due to suspension, although the pair may have to settle for places on the bench.
After receiving a red card at the weekend, Ervin Zukanovic will be suspended for Tuesday's encounter.
The visitors have a number of injury absentees, with Atiba Hutchinson, Umut Mera, Georges-Kevin N'Koudou and Alex Teixeira all unavailable.
In more positive news, Francisco Montero and Domagoj Vida are expected to return to the starting lineup after missing the contest at the weekend due to suspension.
Batshuayi will lead the line for the visitors, and the Chelsea loanee will be aiming to score in his third consecutive game.
Fatih Karagumruk possible starting lineup:
Viviano; Dursun, Bekaroglu, Baniya, Balkovec; Ugur, Biglia, Borini; Mor, Karamoh, Pesic
Besiktas possible starting lineup:
Destanoglu; Rosier, Vida, Montero, Yilmaz; Souza, Pjanic, Ilkhan; Ghezzal, Yalcin, Batshuayi
We say: Fatih Karagumruk 2-2 Besiktas
Fatih Karagumruk have proven to be a tough nut to crack on home turf, which is why we think a draw is the best result that Besiktas can hope for, and we believe that Tuesday's contest could turn out to be quite an entertaining affair.
Top tip
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 Besiktas win with a probability of 37.71%. A win for Fatih Karagumruk had a probability of 36.89% and a draw had a probability of 25.4%.
The most likely scoreline for a Besiktas win was 0-1 with a probability of 8.69%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (8.38%) and 0-2 (6.07%). The likeliest Fatih Karagumruk win was 1-0 (8.58%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (11.99%). The actual scoreline of 0-1 was predicted with an 8.7% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted a 0-1 win for Besiktas in this match.
