Round 33 of the 2024-25 Turkish Super Lig comes to a close with a meeting between Goztepe SK and Istanbul Basaksehir at Gursel Aksel Stadyumu on Monday evening.
The away side are on a four-match winning run heading into this one and will set out to complete a league double over their hosts, who are without a victory in their last four outings.
Match preview
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After ending 2024 on a decent run of results, Goztepe have endured a rough patch since the turn of the year, winning just two of their 14 Super Lig matches which has seen them drop from sixth to 10th.
With a top-four finish in the league now out of the picture, Goztepe's remaining probable route to securing European football for next season was via the Turkish Cup, where they had reached the semi-finals.
However, Stanimir Stoilov's men were sent packing by Trabzonspor following a 2-0 defeat when the teams faced off at Papara Park on Thursday thanks to second-half goals from Ozan Tufan and Oleksandr Zubkov.
Without a victory in their last 11 league matches, the Izmir-based outfit will now return to league action aiming to string together a decent run of results to close out the campaign.
Despite Goztepe's underwhelming form of late, Monday's hosts have been beaten just once in front of their fans this year, so they will fancy themselves to come out on top here and exact revenge for a 4-1 thrashing in November's reverse fixture.
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Istanbul Basaksehir were beaten in consecutive league matches for the first time this season back in March when they lost 3-1 and 3-0 to Kayserispor and Trabzonspor respectively, but that has since sparked an upturn in form.
Cagdas Atan's men made light work of Eyupspor in their final outing of the month courtesy of a 3-1 triumph before kicking off April with three straight victories against Konyaspor, Besiktas and, most recently, Gaziantep.
The Grey Owls' recent resurgence has handed their European aspirations a huge boost, propelling them to sixth place in the standings, just four points shy of Besiktas in fourth place.
With daunting assignments against Galatasaray and Fenerbahce still to come, Basaksehir have little margin for error in their continental pursuit and will know that anything but a win in their upcoming clash would be less than ideal.
After managing just three wins from their opening 12 matches on the road, Monday's visitors have since come out on top in back-to-back away matches ahead of a trip to an opposing ground where they have not won since 2020.
Team News
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Brazilians Juan Santos and Djalma Silva are both unavailable for Goztepe due to muscle problems, while Novatus Miroshi remains sidelined with an ankle problem.
Central African Republic international Isaac Solet has not featured in over five months due to a knee issue and is unlikely to return to action before the season ends.
Twenty-five-year-old Malcolm Bokele is a major doubt for the hosts here after sitting out his side's most recent outing against Trabzonspor through a hamstring injury.
Basaksehir's Krzysztof Piatek received his marching orders for violent conduct last time out and is ineligible to play any part in Monday's encounter.
Onur Ergun is also a guaranteed absentee for the away side as he continues to nurse a foot problem which has kept the midfielder out of action since February.
Goztepe SK possible starting lineup:
Ozcimen; Gunter, Heliton, Altikardes; Bayrak, Dennis, Erdogan, Sangare; Tijanic, Cardoso, Emersonn
Istanbul Basaksehir possible starting lineup:
Sengezer; Operi, Duarte, Ba, Sahiner; Ozdemir, Sari, Crespo, Kemen, Brnic; Figueiredo
We say: Goztepe SK 2-2 Istanbul Basaksehir
Judging by their respective scorecards at both ends of the pitch, there is little to choose between Goztepe and Basaksehir ahead of Monday's affair, which could easily swing either way.
We are backing a share of the spoils with honours even at the sound of the full-time whistle.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Adepoju Marvellous
