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

Gaziantep head into the weekend in 14th place, and on Sunday they will play host to high-flyers Konyaspor in the Turkish Super Lig.

The home side have collected only one victory in their last five games, while third-placed Konyaspor have had no such problems - winning their last four matches.

Match preview

Before the international break, Gaziantep ended a three-game winless run with an impressive 2-0 victory over Kasimpasa.

However, they blew their chance to record their first back-to-back victories of the season last time out, suffering a heavy 3-0 defeat away to Trabzonspor.

That inconsistency has led to the hosts occupying a lowly position in the league table, and they enter the weekend three points clear of the relegation zone.

After a miserable away trip last time out, Gaziantep will relish their return to home comforts, especially given the fact that they are yet to taste defeat on home soil this season.

Their success at the New Gaziantep Stadium has come courtesy of a solid defence that has conceded just two goals in their six home games this term.

Konyaspor finished in 11th place last season, and the expectation heading into the current campaign would have been to secure another mid-table finish.

However, Sunday's visitors had other ideas and have started the season in impeccable form, suffering only one defeat this term.

The signs for their opponents are ominous as Konyaspor enter the fixture off the back of four consecutive victories, with the most recent win coming last weekend against Rizespor.

In that encounter, Ilhan Palut's men made light work of their opponents, thrashing Rizespor 3-0 courtesy of goals from Zymer Bytyqi, Paul-Jose Mpoku and Konrad Michalak.

They may be free-scoring of late, but they have also been tough to break down with three clean sheets in their last four games.

Team News

Gaziantep are likely to be without Jefferson, Torgeir Borven and Halil Ibrahim Pehlivan, who are expected to miss the game through injury.

Muhammet Demir missed last weekend's encounter due to injury and is set to be absent once again on Sunday, although the hosts will have Joao Figueiredo available, with the forward set to come back into the starting lineup after serving his one-match suspension.

Due to an accumulation of yellow cards, Ahmet Calik and Abdulkerim Bardakci are suspended for Konyaspor.

Their suspensions could present Adil Demirbag and Marin Ancic with starting places for Sunday's contest.

Sokol Cikalleshi will lead the line for the visitors and he will be looking to add to the four goals that he has already scored this season.

Gaziantep possible starting lineup:

Guvenc; Ersoy, Caulker, Djilobodji; Ceylan, Niyaz, Erdogan, Maxim, Tosca; Dicko, Figueiredo

Konyaspor possible starting lineup:

Sehic; Skubic; Demirbag, Ancic, Guilherme; Dikmen, Hadziahmetovic, Cekici; Gurler, Bytyqi, Cikalleshi

We say: Gaziantep 1-1 Konyaspor

Despite 11 points separating the two sides in the Turkish Super Lig table, we think that Sunday's contest will be close, especially with Gaziantep proving to be a tough nut to crack on home turf.

Konyaspor have also fared better on home soil than on their travels, and with three draws from their six away fixtures, we believe that they will have to settle for another point on Sunday.