Hatayspor will be looking to return to winning ways when they welcome Sivasspor to the New Hatay Stadium on Saturday for a Super Lig contest.
The hosts enter the weekend in eighth place, with five points separating them from the top four, while the visitors currently occupy 10th position.
Match preview
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Hatayspor's push for European qualification has hit the buffers in recent weeks after picking up just two points from their last three games.
Omer Erdogan's side carried a five-game unbeaten run into their away encounter with Antalyaspor last weekend, but a crushing 4-1 defeat ensured that undefeated streak would not be extended.
Haji Wright netted either side of a Naldo goal before Mame Biram Diouf pulled a goal back for Hatayspor seven minutes before half time.
Within 10 minutes of the restart, Antalyaspor restored their three-goal cushion courtesy of Luiz Adriano's strike and any hopes of a Hatayspor comeback dissipated when Ruben Ribeiro was shown a straight red card.
The hosts know that they require a strong finish to the season if they are to qualify for European competition, and they will be hopeful of a positive result on Saturday after avoiding defeat in their last six home league games.
The visitors, meanwhile, head into the contest in 14th position, and though they have been under par in the Super Lig this season, they still harbour hopes of lifting the Turkish Cup.
Sivasspor have one eye on the first leg of their Turkish Cup semi-final encounter with Alanyaspor, which takes place next Wednesday, but before they can fully focus on that important fixture, they must negotiate a tough away game against Hatayspor.
The cup competition may be their priority, but Sivasspor will still be looking to finish the season in the top half of the table.
Although, with five points separating them from 10th place, they require a strong end to the campaign if they are to finish inside the top half for the third season in a row.
Riza Calimbay's side may have ended up on the losing side last weekend, with Istanbul Basaksehir claiming a 2-0 victory, but they will be confident of picking up three points on Saturday after beating Hatayspor 4-0 in the reverse fixture.
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Team News
Adama Traore will miss out for the hosts through injury, while Ribeiro is suspended for the encounter after being sent off against Antalyaspor.
In more positive news, Mehdi Boudjemaa and Isaac Sackey will return from suspension with the latter expected to feature in the starting lineup.
Diouf scored his 11th league goal of the season in the 4-1 defeat to Antalyaspor and the 34-year-old will have the responsibility of leading the line on Saturday.
As for the visitors, Samba Camara is sidelined due to a knee problem, while Olarenwaju Kayode is a doubt for the contest after an injury issue ruled him out of last weekend's encounter.
Sivasspor will be forced into a change at left-back, with Ugur Ciftci suspended due to an accumulation of yellow cards, which is likely to result in a starting berth for Ziya Erdal.
Calimbay will be looking towards Mustafa Yatabare to provide the goal threat with the forward aiming to add to his nine-goal tally for the Super Lig season.
Hatayspor possible starting lineup:
Munir; Corekci, Kurucuk, Oksuz, Adekugbe; Sackey, Ergun; El Kaabi, Benzia, Lobjanidze; Diouf
Sivasspor possible starting lineup:
Vural; Oguz, Goutas, Osmanpasa, Erdal; Yesilyurt, Fajr, Ulvestad, Arslan, Gradel; Yatabare
We say: Hatayspor 2-0 Sivasspor
Hatayspor are yet to lose a home league game in 2022 and with Sivasspor's potentially distracted by their upcoming Turkish Cup semi-final, we think that the hosts will reignite their push for the top four with a victory on Saturday.
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 Hatayspor win with a probability of 44.22%. A win for Sivasspor had a probability of 30.29% and a draw had a probability of 25.5%.
The most likely scoreline for a Hatayspor win was 1-0 with a probability of 10.09%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (9.08%) and 2-0 (7.58%). The likeliest Sivasspor win was 0-1 (8.06%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.09%). The actual scoreline of 1-1 was predicted with a 12.1% likelihood.
