Round 16 of the 2022-23 Turkish Super Lig season sees Giresunspor entertain the challenge of Gaziantep at the Cotanak Stadyumu on Thursday.
Having both played out a share of the spoils in their last involvement, the sides now set out to return to winning ways in their final outing of the year.
Match preview
Giresunspor extended their winless run to four matches following a 1-1 stalemate against Hatayspor at the Yeni Hatay Stadyumu on Saturday morning.
Hakan Keles's men fell behind to Bertug Yildirim's 75th-minute opener and looked set to suffer defeat before Riad Bajic restored parity three minutes from time.
Consequently, the Cotanaklar remain 13th in the Turkish Super Lig table, just two points clear of relegation danger, albeit with a game in hand.
Their next task sees them face off against an opposing outfit who have come out on top in just one of the most recent six meetings between the teams.
Off the back of a five-goal thrashing in their last outing on home turf, Thursday's hosts will be keen to redeem themselves in this one and close out 2022 on a high.
Gaziantep picked up a very impressive point against Besiktas when the sides went head-to-head at the Gaziantep Stadyumu on Sunday afternoon.
After being under the cosh for the majority of the contest, Erol Bulut's men took a shock lead in the 71st minute through Joao Figueiredo, only for Wout Weghorst to even matters 15 minutes later.
Moving their tally up to 17 points from 14 league matches this term, the Sahinler sit 10th in the standings, but are just three points away from the drop zone.
With games against two of the current top three to follow Thursday's contest, the visitors will be aiming to secure a morale-boosting result ahead of a daunting run of matches.
Team News
Gaziantep's Abdulkadir Parmak is set to miss a fifth consecutive match due to a muscle injury which he picked up against Karagumruk back in November.
In continuation of Erol Bulut's recent rotation between the sticks, Mustafa Bozan is expected to come back into the XI for this one, having made way for Gunay Guvenc last time out.
Serginho was on target for Giresunspor in the last meeting between Thursday's opponents, and the Brazilian will be looking to deliver the goods for his side once again.
Midfielder Jorman Campuzano received his fourth caution of the season against Hatayspor, meaning that he is now just one yellow card away from a suspension.
Giresunspor possible starting lineup:
Piri; Uludag, Seven, Saglam, Bilazer; Sainz, Campuzano, Mejia, Serginho; Kuwas, Bajic
Gaziantep possible starting lineup:
Bozan; Hanousek, Djilobodji, Ersoy, Kitsiou; Jevtovic, Merkel; Maxim, Soyalp, Eskihellac; Figueiredo
We say: Giresunspor 1-1 Gaziantep
Off the back of a mixed spell of results for the teams, both could really do with all three points here, which should make for an enthralling affair. We are expecting a close contest with honours even come the end of the 90 minutes.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Adepoju Marvellous
