Two sides fighting to break into the top half of the Turkish Super Lig table will square off on Sunday, as Galatasaray play host to Sivasspor.
A particularly disappointing season has left the 22-time Turkish champions 12th in the top flight, while their visitors sit two points worse off in 13th place.
Match preview
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After finishing second in the Turkish Super Lig last season and winning the title as recently as 2019, Galatasaray have had to endure a particularly poor season by their own standards, as they sat deep in the bottom half with just 29 points from their opening 25 matches.
Domenec Torrent's side have, at least, been able to improve on their form recently though, winning seven of the last 10 outings in the top flight including back-to-back victories heading into the weekend.
Gala firstly bounced back from a defeat to Fenerbahce by beating Yeni Malatyaspor 2-0, with Ryan Babel and Halil Dervisoglu on the scoresheet, before making it two on the spin last time out.
Torrent's men travelled to an Altay side on the verge of relegation, and, while they were by no means convincing, Kerem Akturkoglu's goal did mean they left with a 1-0 victory and added three points to their tally.
That result leaves Galatasaray 12th in the Super Lig, and, with a top-half finish the aim after their poor season on the whole, they have four games to bridge a two-point gap to 10th spot.
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They welcome a Sivasspor side who arrive aiming to leapfrog Gala after recently dropping behind their hosts down to 13th spot.
Following a fifth-placed finish last term, Sunday's visitors can also be disappointed with their performance this campaign, as they have failed to keep pace with sides in and around the top eight.
Riza Calimbay's side hosted Alanyaspor last time out, on the back of two draws and a defeat from the last three league games and a 2-1 win over the same opponents in the first leg of their Turkish Cup semi-final tie, and they were able to put an important victory on the board, defeating Alanyaspor for the second time in a row thanks to Faycal Fajr's goal.
That leaves Sivasspor 13th in the Super Lig after recently dropping behind their hosts, and they will look to move back above Galatasaray and within touching distance of the top half with what would be an impressive away win at the weekend.
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Team News
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Galatasaray will be without Marcao due to a suspension, leaving Torrent with a hole to fill in his defence.
Meanwhile, Taylan Antalyali and winger Sofiane Feghouli will remain sidelined by injuries, with Ryan Babel operating on the flank in the absence of the latter.
He will line up on the opposite side to star man Kerem Akturkoglu, who has contributed nine goals and six assists in their faltering league campaign, with Bafetimbi Gomis likely leading the line.
Sivasspor's only absentee could be attacker Leke James, who is out for the rest of the season with a knee injury.
Faycal Fajr will continue to offer a threat in attack, having netted his fifth league goal of the season from midfield last time out while also providing four assists.
Winger Max Gradel is another danger man, with the Ivorian veteran providing 12 assists in just 28 league appearances this term.
Galatasaray possible starting lineup:
Muslera; Elabdellaoui, Nelsson, Ozturk, Van Aanholt; Pulgar; Babel, Kilinc, Kutlu, Akturkoglu; Gomis
Sivasspor possible starting lineup:
Yildirim; Oguz, Camara, Goutas, Erdan; Arslan; Yesilyurt, Fajr, Ulvestad, Gradel; Yatabare
We say: Galatasaray 2-1 Sivasspor
Galatasaray have finally been able to show their quality and get over the line in games recently, and, while we do not expect them to blow the visitors away, we do see Torrent's men collecting a third straight three-point haul.
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 Galatasaray win with a probability of 46.88%. A win for Sivasspor had a probability of 29.2% and a draw had a probability of 23.9%.
The most likely scoreline for a Galatasaray win was 2-1 with a probability of 9.36%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-0 (8.67%) and 2-0 (7.3%). The likeliest Sivasspor win was 1-2 (7.13%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (11.11%). The actual scoreline of 2-3 was predicted with a 2.6% likelihood.
