Looking to bounce back from their respective defeats last time out, Sivasspor and Antalyaspor square off at the Yeni Sivas 4 Eylul Stadyumu on Saturday.
The hosts head into the game unbeaten in each of their most recent three home games, while the visitors are yet to taste victory on the road this season.
Match preview
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Sivasspor failed to move into the top half of the table two Saturdays ago when they suffered a 2-1 loss away to title favourites Besiktas.
Turkish forward Guven Yalcin continued his fine goalscoring form as he netted either side of Ridvan Yilmaz's 54th-minute own goal to hand the Kara Kartalla their fifth win of the season.
Prior to that, Riza Calimbay's side edged out Yeni Malatyaspor 1-0 away from home to end their run of three consecutive draws on August 21 before cruising to an emphatic 4-0 victory over Fatih Karagumruk four days later.
Sivasspor, who secured an impressive fifth-placed finish last season, currently find themselves in 13th place on the log after picking up nine points from their opening eight games.
While the Braves will be looking to quickly return to winning ways, they go up against an opposing side who are unbeaten in their most recent three visits to the Yeni Sivas 4 Eylul Stadyumu since a 2-1 loss back in October 2019.
Meanwhile, Antalyaspor were denied a second win on the trot last time courtesy of a 2-1 home defeat at the hands of Adana Demirspor.
In that encounter, Mario Balotelli and Matias Vargas scored either side of Bunyamin Balci's 59th-minute equaliser to hand the visitors their third win in four outings.
Prior to that, the Akrepler played out a bore draw with Fatih Karagumruk to end their two-game losing streak before claiming a narrow 1-0 victory over Yeni Malatyaspor on August 25.
Antalyaspor head into this weekend's game with the fifth-worst away record in the division as they have managed just one point from three outings, while they are also yet to score away from home.
Ersun Yanal's men follow this Saturday's game with a clash against Basakaehir next Sunday, while the hosts go head to head with Adana Demirspor in the second of their two straight home games.
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Team News
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Sivasspor will take to the pitch without the services of Gabonese defender Aaron Appidangoye, who continues his spell on the sidelines through an Achilles tendon injury.
Leke James will also play no part in this weekend's encounter as the Nigerian forward is currently recuperating from a back injury he sustained in August's clash with Goztepe.
Antalyaspor, on the other hand, remain without the services of Dogukan Nelik, after the Turkish youngster sustained a knee injury back in July.
Twenty-four-year-old midfielder Harun Alpsoy also misses out as he continues his long journey to full fitness having picked up a severe muscle injury back in December 2020.
Andrea Poli is also out of contention for the visitors after the veteran Italian trudged off the pitch injured midway through the first half against Adana Demirspor last time out.
Sivasspor possible starting lineup:
Yildirim; Ciftci, Osmanpasa, Goutas, Oguz; Arslan, Fajr, Felix; Gradel, Kayode, Henrique
Antalyaspor possible starting lineup:
Boffin; Vural, Naldo, Sari, Floranus; Sahin, Poli; Mukairu, Fredy, Bayrakdar; Wright
We say: Sivasspor 2-1 Antalyaspor
With just one point and one place separating the sides, Saturday's game has all the makings of a riveting and absorbing contest.
Despite the defeat last time out, the hosts appear to have hit their stride this season and we are tipping them to claim all three points against an inconsistent Antalyaspor side.
Top tip
Joshua Ojele
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 Sivasspor win with a probability of 52.38%. A draw had a probability of 26.4% and a win for Antalyaspor had a probability of 21.23%.
The most likely scoreline for a Sivasspor win was 1-0 with a probability of 14.57%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (10.8%) and 2-1 (9.04%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (12.2%), while for an Antalyaspor win it was 0-1 (8.24%). The actual scoreline of 2-2 was predicted with a 3.8% likelihood.
