Fresh off the back of suffering their first Turkish Super Lig defeat of the season, Adana Demirspor go head to head with Besiktas at the New Adana Stadium on Wednesday.
The Kara Kartallar, who won both home and away meetings between the sides last season, will be looking to extend their dominance over the hosts and strengthen their position in the top half of the table.
Match preview
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Adana Demirspor were sent crashing back to earth at the weekend as they suffered a 2-1 defeat against Kasimpasa at the Recep Tayyip Erdogan Stadium.
In a heated contest where the visitors finished with eight men, Aytac Kara scored either side of the half-time break to put Kasimpasa in front before Yusuf Erdogan halved the deficit in the 80th minute.
Prior to that, Adana snapped their five-game winless run on September 16 when they thrashed newly-promoted Pendikspor 3-0 courtesy of goals from a first-half brace from M'Baye Niang and Emre Akbaba's 88th-minute strike.
While Patrick Kluivert's men have struggled for results on the road, they now return home where they have won each of their five matches across all competitions this season, scoring 13 goals and conceding three so far.
With eight points from their opening five matches, the Blue Lightnings are currently 10th in the Super League standings, two points and five places adrift of Wednesday's visitors.
While Adana Demirspor will be looking to return to winning ways, they face the stern challenge of taking on a Besiktas side who are unbeaten in each of their last six meetings, claiming three wins and three draws since a 2-1 loss in December 2014.
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Senol Gunes's men have flown out of the blocks this season as they picked up seven points from their opening three matches while scoring four goals and keeping two clean sheets.
Besiktas claimed victories over Fatih Karagumruk and Sivasspor in their first three matches, with a somewhat disappointing 1-1 draw against Pendikspor on August 20 being the exception.
The Kara Kartallar suffered their first defeat of the 2023-24 Super Lig campaign on September 17 as they were thrashed 3-0 by Trabzonspor at Papara Park with goals coming from Paul Onuachu, Anastasios Bakasetas and Edin Visca.
However, Besiktas returned to winning ways in style as they fought back from one goal down to claim a 2-1 victory over Kayserispor at the Vodafone Arena on Sunday.
Following a goalless first half, Carlos Mane grabbed the breakthrough strike two minutes into the second period to put the visitors in front before Vincent Aboubakar and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain found the target to turn the game on its head.
Besiktas have now picked up three wins and one draw from their first five matches to collect 10 points from a possible 15 and sit fifth in the Super Lig standings, five points adrift of first-placed Fenerbahce.
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Team News
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Adana Demirspor will take to the pitch without the services of Ertac Ozbir, Benjamin Stambouli and Kevin Rodrigues, who are all suspended following their sending off against Kasimpasa on Sunday.
In their absence, second-choice goalkeeper Sahrudin Mahammadaliyev should start between the sticks, with Ismail Cokcalis and Dorukhan Tokoz starting in defence and midfield respectively.
As for Besiktas, Gunes will be unable to call upon 23-year-old defender Tayyib Talha Sanuc, who has been sidelined since April through an ACL injury.
Turkish midfielder Emrecan Uzunhan has missed the last 12 games due to personal reasons and the 22-year-old is also out of contention for Wednesday's match.
With his equaliser at the weekend, Aboubakar now has 10 goal involvements in 13 outings this season and we expect the Cameroonian striker to spearhead Besiktas' attack once again.
Adana Demirspor possible starting lineup:
Makhammadaliev; Svensson, Gravillon, Guler, Cokcalis; Tokoz, Akbaba; Sari, Belhanda, Erdogan; Niang
Besiktas possible starting lineup:
Gunok; Bulut, Bailly, Colley, Masuaku; Hadziahmetovic, Ucan; Ghezzal, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Tosun; Aboubakar
We say: Adana Demirspor 1-2 Besiktas
Adana Demirspor's home ground has been a fortress this season, with the Blue Lightnings winning each of their five games on familiar territory this season. However, they take on a formidable opponent in Besiktas, who are unbeaten in each of the last six meetings between the sides.
Given the gulf in quality and depth between the two teams, we are tipping Gunes' side to come away with a narrow victory.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Joshua Ojele
