Kayserispor take on Konyaspor in the Turkish Super Lig on Thursday with the hosts looking to end a winless league run of eight matches.
The visitors, meanwhile, have lost their last two matches to slide to 13th in the table.
Match preview
Having finished 17th last season, Kayserispor were only spared from relegation to Turkey's second tier by the Turkish Football Federation's move to scrap relegation in July.
As such, 21 teams are competing in the Turkish Super Lig this season, with four clubs set to be relegated at the end of the season to reduce it to 20 from next season.
After a disappointing campaign, Kayserispor moved to sack former Croatia international Robert Prosinecki and re-install former manager Samet Aybaba, who had a previous spell with the club in 2019.
Things started brightly with two wins from their opening four matches, but Aybaba has failed to preside over a league win since, with Monday's 2-0 defeat at Antalyaspor keeping them inside the extended relegation zone.
Konyaspor, meanwhile, would have survived by the skin of their teeth in a normal season, having only been four points above bottom-placed Ankaragucu.
Ismail Kartal now oversees a club who were competing in the Europa League group stages only three seasons ago and are looking to return to that standing, with former Tottenham Hotspur winger Aaron Lennon joining in the summer.
However, given Konyaspor are 13th once again, it potentially looks set to be another season of mid-table obscurity for the club, especially if top goalscorer Artem Kravets does not recover from his muscle injury soon.
The Ukraine international struck five times in seven starts, including in an impressive 2-0 win at Fenerbache, before sustaining the issue in a 1-0 defeat at surprise league leaders Alanyaspor.
Kayserispor Turkish Super Lig form: LDDDDL
Kayserispor form (all competitions): DLDDDL
Konyaspor Turkish Super Lig form: WWLWLL
Konyaspor form (all competitions): WLWLWL
Team News
Omer Uzun is a doubt for Kayserispor due to thigh discomfort.
Yasir Subasi and Silviu Lung are both definitely ruled out with collarbone and muscle injuries respectively, with the duo set to return in the New Year.
Konyaspor, meanwhile, have a host of injury concerns, with Kravets potentially returning in a few weeks.
Paolo Hurtado, Emem Eduok, Sokol Cikalleshi, Musa Cagiran, Volkan Findikli and Marin Anicic join him on the sidelines.
Kayserispor possible starting lineup:
Alemdar; Lopes, Sapunaru, Kolovetsios, Behich; Kvrzic, Attamah, Manuel Fernandes; Lennon, Alibec, Henrique
Konyaspor possible starting lineup:
Sehic; Skubic, Calik, Demirok, Bardakci, Guilherme; Milosevic, Hadziahmetovic, Guctekin; Sahiner, Miya
We say: Kayserispor 1-2 Konyaspor
We can envisage Konyaspor getting back to winning ways against a Kayserispor side desperately short of confidence.
Lennon and Pedro Henrique should consistently penetrate the hosts down the flanks.
Top betting tip
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 Kayserispor win with a probability of 39.1%. A win for Konyaspor had a probability of 34.25% and a draw had a probability of 26.6%.
The most likely scoreline for a Kayserispor win was 1-0 with a probability of 10.34%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (8.41%) and 2-0 (6.87%). The likeliest Konyaspor win was 0-1 (9.55%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.66%). The actual scoreline of 1-2 was predicted with a 7.8% likelihood.
