On Saturday afternoon, the Super Lig welcomes the clash between Alanyaspor and Sivasspor at the Kirbiyik Holding Stadyumu as both teams look to bounce back from last weekend's defeats.
The hosts suffered a 1-0 away defeat to Trabzonspor on Monday, while Sivasspor lost 1-0 at home to Kasimpasa.
Match preview
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Alanyaspor have had a pretty tough time of things recently, losing three of their last four games and failing to score in all three defeats.
A narrow 1-0 home defeat to Fenerbahce was followed by a 4-0 away defeat against Adana Demirspor before they recorded a 2-1 win against Fatih Karagumruk the following week.
The 2-1 win over Karagumruk was only their second of the season and ended an almost two-month drought of six games without a win, including four draws and two defeats.
Although recent performances have been far from convincing, Omer Erdogan's men are by far the stronger team when playing at home, with their only two wins coming on home soil, along with two draws and their only defeat coming against league leaders Fenerbahce.
However, the team have obvious problems defensively as they have failed to keep a clean sheet in six consecutive matches.
Sivasspor, on the other hand, have also had an up-and-down run in recent months, but have a better record than the hosts when looking at their last four games.
Servet Cetin's side have lost just once in their last four games, against Kasimpasa last Sunday, ending Sivasspor's run of three unbeaten games.
During that run of two draws against Caykur Rizespor and Hatayspor and a 3-2 away win against Pendikspor, in which Aaron Appindangoye scored the winner less than 15 minutes before the end of normal time, they took five points from a possible nine.
The fact that Saturday's match will be played away from home should not be too much of a problem for Cetin's men, as Sivasspor have only lost once away from home this season, a 2-0 defeat to Besiktas, and are fourth in the table with two wins and a draw.
Team News
Alanyaspor are looking to record their second home win in a row and can rely on a fully fit squad with no injuries. However, the team are not free of absentees, as right-back Loide Augusto is suspended for Saturday's match due to an accumulation of yellow cards.
Erdogan could also make some changes to the starting XI after the goalless game against Trabzonspor, as Oguz Aydin has not been at his best in recent weeks and Sergio Cordova could play on the left wing ahead of him.
Central midfielder Joao Novais is the team's top scorer this Super Lig season with three goals, and Carlos Eduardo, who plays as a recognised centre-forward, is the home team's most likely scorer besides Novais.
For Sivasspor, Charis Charisis has served his suspension and will return to the starting XI in place of Roman Kvet to support centre-forward Gerson Rodrigues.
Charisis is expected to play in attacking midfield along with Samu Saiz, who is the team's top scorer this season with three goals.
Alanyaspor possible starting lineup:
Taskiran; Haderjgonaj, Aksoy, Aliti, Balkovec; Novais, Candido, Karaca, Janvier, Cordova; Eduardo
Sivasspor possible starting lineup:
Vural; Kapacak, Appindangoye, Osmanpasa, Ciftci; Konak, Saiz, Charisis, Barrow, Bassan; Rodrigues
We say: Alanyaspor 1-1 Sivasspor
There is not much between the two teams before this match, as they are both mid-table teams at best after their recent performances.
Alanyaspor have done slightly better at home this season, but Sivasspor's away record suggests they can challenge Cetin's men and at least get a draw.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
