Two sides separated by six points in the middle of the Turkish Super Lig table will meet on Sunday, as Konyaspor travel to take on Kasimpasa.
A defeat and a draw from their last two matches have seen the hosts drop to 12th spot after 29 outings, while their visitors find themselves ninth after a loss of their own last time out.
Match preview
Kasimpasa find themselves in the midst of a tough season in the Turkish Super Lig, having managed 33 points from their 29 games thus far, with 14 of those outings ending in defeat.
After picking up three points at the beginning of April from a scheduled contest with Gaziantep, who withdrew from the league earlier in the year, the Apaches were able to secure a crucial victory in their bid to steer clear of the relegation zone following the appointment of new manager Kemal Ozdes, beating defending champions Trabzonspor 2-0 courtesy of goals from Mounir Chouiar and Valentin Eysseric.
That result briefly took them up to 10th spot under the new management, but they were unable to put a winning run together, losing 5-0 in the following trip to Adana Demirspor last weekend as Babajide David hit a brace for the hosts before Yusuf Sari, Cherif Ndiaye and Younes Belhanda helped themselves to goals.
Aiming to quickly bounce back from that demoralising defeat, the Apaches most recently travelled to take on seventh-placed Kayserispor on Wednesday, and they were, at least, able to leave with a commendable point as the contest ended goalless.
That point was enough to take Ozdes's side back up to 12th place, and now sitting six points clear of Giresunspor in the upper of the two remaining relegation spots, they will be pleased with their cushion and will hope to build on that further and push for a place in the top half with a return to winning ways at the weekend.
Their visitors, meanwhile, will hope to strengthen their grip on a top-half place, after dropping to ninth spot last time out following a positive run of form.
After enjoying a strong start to the campaign, Konyaspor's cause was severely harmed by a major dip in form between December and March, as they endured a nine-match winless run including five straight losses, before the rut was only broken by three points coming from their scheduled meeting with Hatayspor, the other side to withdraw from the division after the Turkey-Syria Earthquake.
They would then put together a slightly improved run, though, firstly beating leaders Galatasaray 2-1 before playing out draws with Umraniyespor and Antalyaspor and having three more points added to their tally last weekend, in which they were meant to meet Gaziantep.
Then sitting eighth on 45 points from 28 outings, Aleksandar Stanojevic's side most recently hosted Adana Demirspor on Wednesday, and after going 1-0 down, they drew level in the first half through Mahir Emreli and saw the visitors reduced to 10 men early in the second half, but it was still their opponents who would come out on top as Cherif Ndiaye netted the decisive goal in the 56th minute.
Having dropped to ninth spot following that disappointing defeat despite their man advantage for 40 minutes, the Anatolian Eagle will be desperate to bounce back on Sunday with the aim of leapfrogging Fatih Karagumruk and climbing back into the top eight.
Team News
Kasimpasa come into Sunday's meeting without Papy Djilobodji, who will serve a suspension after being sent off in the dying minutes of their draw with Kayserispor, while forward Fode Koita also brought up a suspension with a yellow card in that contest.
Given those absences, and with defenders Sadik Ciftpinar and Daniel Graovac sidelined by injuries, Yasin Ozcan will likely come into the centre of the back four alongside Ryan Donk, while Stephane Bahoken should spearhead the attack having netted four league goals so far this term.
He will be flanked by Mounir Chouiar and Mamadou Fall, who has been the star man in their attack this term, having contributed five goals and six assists in 27 league appearances.
Konyaspor have several enforced absentees through injury, as Uche Ikpeazu, Ogulcan Ulgun, Endri Cekici and Adil Demirbag are all confined to the treatment room.
Their line will be led by Mame Biram Diouf, who has netted eight league goals so far this season, while Muhammet Demir will hope to join him up front having hit six league goals of his own.
Andreas Bouchalakis will feature alongside Soner Dikmen, while Ahmet Oguz, Ugurcan Yazgili, Francisco Calvo and Guilherme should again line up in a back four.
Kasimpasa possible starting lineup:
Guvenc; Fabiano, Donk, Ozcan, Ben Ouanes; Tirpan, Kara, Hajradinovic; Fall, Bahoken, Chouiar
Konyaspor possible starting lineup:
Sehic; Oguz, Yazgili, Calvo, Guilherme; Bouchalakis, Dikmen; Emreli, Moreno; Diouf, Demir
We say: Kasimpasa 1-2 Konyaspor
Keen to return to winning ways and strengthen their position in the top half, we see Konyaspor having the quality to get over the line on their travels on Sunday.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Sam Varley
