Gaziantep will welcome Yeni Malatyaspor to the Kaylon Stadium on Tuesday with the hosts aiming to bounce back after their six-game unbeaten run was ended at the weekend by Besiktas.
The visitors, meanwhile, enter the contest rooted to the bottom of the Turkish Super Lig table having an eight-game winless run in all competitions.
Match preview
The hosts head into the midweek encounter in ninth position, but with the top half of the league table tightly congested, they sit just three points adrift of the top four.
Having won their three league games prior to the weekend fixture with Besiktas, Erol Bulut would have been hopeful that his side could take at least a point off the reigning Turkish Super Lig champions.
Unfortunately for Gaziantep, they suffered a narrow 1-0 defeat, with Michy Batshuayi finding the net for Besiktas midway through the second half.
Despite that defeat, Tuesday's hosts will be hopeful of returning to winning ways with Gaziantep yet to lose at home this season.
Bulut's side will be expecting to find the net on Tuesday as they have failed to score in just one of their 10 home league games this season.
As for the visitors, they are experiencing a torrid spell of form, and they enter the midweek fixture off the back of four consecutive defeats in all competitions.
Their latest loss came at the weekend despite Yeni Malatyaspor grabbing the opener through Mustafa Eskihellac, but a Berkan Emir penalty and a Lourency strike helped Goztepe snatch all three points.
Following that home defeat, Yeni Malatyaspor will now turn their attention towards an away fixture and a point from their last six away games suggests that Tuesday's visitors may be pessimistic about their chances.
The issue for Marius Sumudica and his players is that they have struggled in the final third on their travels having scored just three away goals in the league this season - the lowest away tally in the Turkish Super Lig.
In fact, they have failed to score in all of their last six away matches, and that is a problem that needs to be solved if Yeni Malatyaspor are to avoid relegation this season.
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Team News
Gaziantep had as many of seven players missing against Besiktas due to positive coronavirus tests, and Bulut is likely to have to contend with a reduced squad once again on Tuesday.
The hosts are also without the services of Steven Caulker, who is currently competing at the Africa Cup of Nations with Sierra Leone.
Muhammet Demir and Alexandru Maxim have scored eight league goals between them this season, and they will make up Gaziantep's forward line for the midweek encounter.
Meanwhile, the visitors will be without the injured Rahman Cagiran.
Benjamin Tetteh and Oussama Haddadi are currently away with their national sides at the Africa Cup of Nations.
Having scored two goals in his last three appearances, Eskihellac will look to support the strikers from the right of midfield on Tuesday.
Gaziantep possible starting lineup:
Guvenc; Djilobodji, Tosca, Ersoy; Vetrih, Niyaz, Erdogan, Soyalp, Sagal; Maxim, Demir
Yeni Malatyaspor possible starting lineup:
Ozbir; Kaya, Wallace, Ciftpinar, Hafez; Eskihellac, Azubuike, Donsah, Chouiar; Ozer, Dicko
We say: Gaziantep 3-0 Yeni Malatyaspor
Gaziantep have been invincible at home this season, and we do not see that changing on Tuesday when they face a Yeni Malatyaspor who are struggling at the foot of the league table.
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 Gaziantep win with a probability of 57.07%. A draw had a probability of 22.7% and a win for Yeni Malatyaspor had a probability of 20.19%.
The most likely scoreline for a Gaziantep win was 1-0 with a probability of 10.87%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (9.96%) and 2-1 (9.88%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (10.79%), while for a Yeni Malatyaspor win it was 0-1 (5.89%). The actual scoreline of 0-0 was predicted with a 5.9% likelihood.
