Trabzonspor play host to Alanyaspor on Monday evening knowing that they will move to the top of the Super Lig standings with victory at the Senol Gunes Stadium.
However, Alanyaspor sit just two points adrift of their hosts, providing the visitors with their own opportunity to move into the top four of the table.
Match preview
© Reuters
With five points covering the top eight teams in the table after Friday's fixtures, a number of clubs will feel like they have the opportunity to emerge as the pacesetters in the long term.
Nevertheless, few can argue that Trabzonspor look the most threatening, Abdullah Avci's side collecting 14 points from their opening six games.
Their two draws have come against Galatasaray and Konyaspor, earning a share of the spoils in the latter through a second-half own goal when they were down to 10 men.
That show of character has provided Karadeniz Firtinasi with the foundations to move into first spot before the home encounter with Fenerbahce after the international break.
Andreas Cornelius is emerging as a key figure in the final third, the Dane having now scored important goals against each of Galatasaray and Konyaspor.
The curious case of Alanyaspor continued earlier this week as they recorded their third win and clean sheet in succession in seeing off Kasimpasa.
That streak has materialised after conceding nine times in two games before the international break, and Bulent Korkmaz deserves every bit of credit which comes his way for the transformation.
However, Alanyaspor are now in a position where they can become a major player in the race for the European places, leading to expectations inevitably rising at the Bahcesehir Okullari Stadium.
Remarkably, Alanyaspor still possess a minus three goal difference, a consequence of none of their squad netting more than one strike this season.
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Team News
Trabzonspor will be without Vitor Hugo after the defender's early red card at Konyaspor.
Huseyin Turkmen, who has yet to feature in Super Lig this season, is expected to deputise for the Brazilian in the middle of the backline.
Gervinho and Djaniny are also pushing for recalls in the final third with Abdulkadir Omur potentially dropping out of the side.
Korkmaz may stick with the same Alanyaspor which started the 2-0 victory over Kasimpasa.
One alteration may come in attack with Khouma Babacar an alternative to former Bristol City forward Famara Diedhiou.
Trabzonspor possible starting lineup:
Cakir; Peres, Turkmen, Ie, Koybasi; Hamsik, Ozdemir, Bakasetas; Gervinho, Cornelius, Nwakaeme
Alanyaspor possible starting lineup:
Kirintili; Juanfran, Awaziem, Milunovic, Borja; Aksoy, Gunes; Karaca, Akbaba, Davidson; Diedhiou
We say: Trabzonspor 1-1 Alanyaspor
This feels like an evenly-matched contest, one which the visitors will relish on the back of their recent form. Although Trabzonspor have the superior quality in the final third, we are going with a low-scoring draw as the final outcome at the Senol Gunes Stadium.
Top tip
Darren Plant
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 Trabzonspor win with a probability of 51.44%. A draw had a probability of 24.9% and a win for Alanyaspor had a probability of 23.7%.
The most likely scoreline for a Trabzonspor win was 1-0 with a probability of 11.7%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (9.54%) and 2-0 (9.44%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (11.82%), while for an Alanyaspor win it was 0-1 (7.33%). The actual scoreline of 1-1 was predicted with an 11.8% likelihood.
