Seeking to pick up a sixth win on the bounce, Antalyaspor play host to Caykur Rizespor at the Corendon Airlines Park in round 13 of the Super Lig on Sunday.
The Black Sea Sparrowhawk, who have lost each of their last three away games, will be looking to end this poor run and secure successive league wins for the first time since September.
Match preview
Antalyaspor maintained their fine run of results during the international break as they picked up a 3-1 victory over Serik Belediyespor when the sides squared off in a friendly fixture last Sunday.
Britt Assombalonga scored twice in a four-minute spell to put the Scorpions in a comfortable lead and Muhammet Akpinar pulled one back in the 36th minute, Dario Saric found the target with a 78-minute strike to put the result beyond reach.
Antalyaspor now turn their attention to the Super Lig, where they have won each of their last three matches, seeing off Istanbul Basaksehir, Besiktas and Ankaragucu while scoring eight goals and keeping two clean sheets since October's 1-0 loss against Gaziantep.
Nuri Sahin's men also cruised through the third round of the Turkish Cup on November 1, when they picked up a 3-0 victory over Orduspor courtesy of a brace from Assombalonga and Emre Uzun's second-half strike.
They have now won five of their 12 Super Lig matches so far while losing four and claiming three draws to collect 18 points and sit seventh in the Super Lig standings, level on points with eighth-placed Kasimpasa.
After two games on the road, Antalyaspor now return to the Corendon Airlines Park, where they have won five of their last six matches, with a 2-0 loss against Galatasaray on October 7 being the exception.
Caykur Rizespor, on the other hand, returned to winning ways in their last outing before the international break as they scraped a 1-0 victory over Istanbulspor.
In a cagey affair at the Caykur Didi Stadyumu, former Liverpool and Newcastle United man Jonjo Shelvey came up trumps for the hosts as he netted the only goal of the game to hand Vural Onen's men a fifth consecutive defeat.
Prior to that, Rizespor were on a three-game losing streak in the league, suffering successive defeats at the hands of Kayserispor, Galatasaray and Gaziantep respectively.
With 17 points from 12 matches, Ilhan Palut's men are currently 10th in the Super Lig standings, level on points with ninth-placed Hatayspor.
While Caykur Rizespor will look to pick up where they left off before the international break, they have failed to win five of their last six games against Antalyaspor, losing four and claiming one draw since February 2016.
Team News
Antalyaspor will take to the pitch without the services of Sagiv Jehezkel and 35-year-old midfielder Guray Vural, who have been ruled out through injuries.
Experienced forward Gerrit Holtmann has missed each of his last three matches since coming off injured against Gaziantep on October 21 and will play no part in this weekend's clash.
With his brace against Belediyespor, Assombalonga now has five goals in his last three games and we expect the 30-year-old to spearhead the hosts' attack once again.
Meanwhile, Caykur Rizespor remain without Nigerian midfielder Azubuike Okechukwu, who continues his lengthy spell on the sidelines after suffering a knee injury back in July.
He is joined on the Black Sea Sparrowhawk's injury table by Turkish forward Efe Tecimer, who has been sidelined since September 2022 after suffering an ACL injury.
Antalyaspor possible starting lineup:
Leite; Balci, Sari, Toprak, Ozturk; Rakip, Saric, Larsson, Safuri, Yesilyurt; Buksa
Caykur Rizespor possible starting lineup:
Akkan; Sahin, Mocsi, Topcu, Pehlivan; Pala, Shelvey; Sauer, Olawoyin, Varesanovic; Minchev
We say: Antalyaspor X-Y Caykur Rizespor
While Caykur Rizespor will be looking to pick up where they dropped off last time out, they face the challenge of taking on a high-flying Antalyaspor side who have won each of their last five matches. Sahin's men are currently firing on all cylinders and we fancy them claiming all three points in front of their home supporters.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Joshua Ojele
