Preview: Konyaspor vs Besiktas - prediction, team news, lineups

Konyaspor will host Besiktas at the Konya Buyuksehir Belediye Stadium on Wednesday evening in a rescheduled round three Turkish Super Lig encounter.

Both sides will be eager to bounce back from weekend defeats, with neither managing a league victory in their last two outings.

Match preview

Konyaspor’s major weakness this season has been their defensive fragility, and it was once again their undoing in the 3-2 home defeat to an inspired Kocaelispor on Saturday.

It was the second time this term that the Anatolian Eagles have conceded three goals, having also suffered a 3-1 loss to Galatasaray earlier in the campaign, and head coach Recep Ucar criticised the goals conceded as “not worthy”, showing his frustration at how easily his side were breached.

Ucar was also disappointed that his players failed to find an equaliser despite pulling one back in the 77th minute, with more than enough time left on the clock to salvage a point.

The focus has now shifted to their midweek clash against Besiktas, with Ucar demanding a more composed and resilient performance, and the hosts will take confidence from last season’s 1-0 home win over the Black Eagles.

That victory ended a seven-game winless streak (2D, 5L) in this fixture for Konyaspor, and now, they will be aiming to record back-to-back victories against the Istanbul giants for the first time since 2016.

Meanwhile, Besiktas travel to Konya reeling from their first home defeat of the season – a shock 2-1 loss to newly-promoted Genclerbirligi.

The Black Eagles had led from the early stages of the second half, only to concede twice in the space of three minutes between the 79th and 81st minutes – a collapse that left head coach Sergen Yalcin furious, branding it “unacceptable”.

With pressure beginning to mount, Yalcin will be desperate for an immediate response, as another defeat could see Konyaspor leapfrog them in the table, while victory would put Besiktas within touching distance of the top four.

Encouragingly, the Istanbul outfit have shown signs of improvement away from home, collecting four points from their last two trips – including a hard-fought 1-1 draw at Galatasaray – after losing their first two away fixtures.

With consecutive away games against Konyaspor and Kasimpasa to come, Besiktas will know that maintaining this upward momentum on the road is vital to staying in touch with the leading pack.

Konyaspor Turkish Super Lig form:

Besiktas Turkish Super Lig form:

Team News

Konyaspor have almost a full squad to select from for this fixture, with Ugurcan Yazgili the only confirmed absentee as he serves a one-match suspension for an accumulation of yellow cards.

Alassane Ndao, who ranks second for big chances created in the Super Lig this season (4), is expected to be a key creative force once again, operating in one of the two attacking midfield roles behind the main striker.

Umut Nayir, who scored his fourth league goal of the campaign last time out and has also provided one assist, continues to be Konyaspor’s most reliable attacking outlet with five direct goal contributions in eight matches, and the Turkish forward is set to lead the line once again.

Marko Jevtovic, who missed the defeat to Kocaelispor due to unspecified reasons, could make his return to the starting XI, potentially joining Adil Demirbag and Morten Bjorlo in a back-three setup.

For Besiktas, 21-year-old midfielder Ege Tiknaz remains unavailable as he continues to recover from a knee injury that has sidelined him for the last three matches.

El Bilal Toure is also out of the trip to Konya, with the Atalanta loanee still nursing a knock that kept him out of the weekend defeat to Genclerbirligi, and is ineligible having not joined at the time of the originally scheduled date.

Vaclav Cerny, Cengiz Under, Jota Silva, Gokhan Sazdagi, Ridvan Yilmaz, and Tiago Djalo are all ineligible to feature in this fixture, as they were not registered with the club when the match was originally scheduled to take place.

Milot Rashica, who has created the most big chances for Besiktas this season (3), has not started since the 4-0 win over Kayserispor on September 24, but he could be recalled to the starting lineup to add some creativity in attack.

Meanwhile, Orkun Kokcu has been handed the captain’s armband for the first time in his Besiktas career, wearing it in the defeat to Genclerbirligi, the Turkish international will now aim to inspire the Black Eagles to their first win under his leadership.

Konyaspor possible starting lineup:

Ertas; Jevtovic, Bjorlo, Demirbag; Andzouana, Pedrinho, Ibrahimoglu, Guilherme; Ndao, Muleka; Nayir

Besiktas possible starting lineup:

Gunok; Svensson, Topku, Uduokhai, Jurasek; Kokcu, Ndidi; Rashica, R Silva, Sahin; Abraham

We say: Konyaspor 2-2 Besiktas

Both teams will be eager to respond after disappointing defeats at the weekend, and with neither side fully settled defensively, this fixture promises plenty of attacking action.

Konyaspor have found the net seven times in their last five outings but have failed to keep a clean sheet in six, while Besiktas have shown similar vulnerability at the back – with both teams capable of scoring and conceding, a high-scoring draw looks the most likely outcome in Konya.

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