Preview: Istanbul Basaksehir vs Kayserispor - prediction, team news, lineups

Istanbul Basaksehir will begin their 2025-26 Turkish Super Lig campaign at home on Sunday, hosting Kayserispor.

The Grey Owls had their scheduled opening-day clash with Fatih Karagumruk postponed due to their European commitments last week.

Match preview

Basaksehir had already done the hard work against Viking in the first leg of their Europa League third-round qualifier, claiming a 3-1 win, while a composed 1-1 draw in the return leg sealed a 4-2 aggregate victory.

Cagdas Atan’s side are in fine early-season form, unbeaten in seven matches across all competitions and winning five of them.

Their competitive action began in the Conference League qualifiers, where they comfortably swept aside Bulgarian outfit Cherno More 5-0 on aggregate in the second round.

Now, they turn their attention to the league, aiming to carry that momentum into Sunday’s match and end a five-game winless run against Kayserispor, a sequence that includes one home defeat and one draw.

The visitors, meanwhile, have won three and drawn two of their last five meetings with Basaksehir, last losing this fixture in 2022.

Like their hosts, Kayserispor also saw their first league game postponed, with Besiktas among the European participants granted rest days by the Turkish Football Federation.

This will be Kayserispor’s first competitive match without Sergej Jakirovic, who guided them to safety last term after taking over mid-season, before leaving this summer to join English Championship side Hull City.

Former Samsunspor boss Markus Gisdol has since taken charge, overseeing a mixed pre-season of three wins from four friendlies, including a comfortable victory over Erciyes last Sunday.

Istanbul Basaksehir form (all competitions):

Kayserispor form (all competitions):

Team News

Davie Selke has started the season brightly, scoring in both legs against Viking and will look to continue his run here.

Ousseynou Ba and Leo Duarte are expected to anchor the defence, with Christopher Operi on the right and Onur Bulut on the left.

Kayserispor’s summer has been quiet on the recruitment front, despite losing 12 players from last season’s squad, including forward Duckens Nazon.

Miguel Cardoso, who netted a hat-trick in last weekend’s friendly, will be the visitors’ main attacking threat on Sunday.

Istanbul Basaksehir possible starting lineup:

Sengezer; Operi, Ba, Duarte, Bulut; Ozdemir; Turuc, Crespo, Beyaz, Shomurodov; Selke

Kayserispor possible starting lineup:

Piri; Sazdagi, Hosseini, Kocaman, Carole; Gezek, Celtik, Ozbek; Mane, Sariarslan, Cardoso

We say: Istanbul Basaksehir 1-1 Kayserispor

Both sides look evenly matched heading into this clash, with neither likely to give much away at the back, while there should be moments of attacking intent, the defences are expected to stand firm for most of the contest.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.