The fight for survival in the Turkish Super Lig is already underway and a crucial clash between bottom-placed Caykur Rizespor and Goztepe SK, who currently sit 17th, takes place on Saturday.
Four points separate these two teams ahead of this weekend's fixture, and the visitors are aiming to extend their current unbeaten run in all competitions to five games.
Match preview
Rizespor's Super Lig form in recent weeks has been up and down, having created a pattern of winning one game before losing the next, and that continued last weekend after a win against Kayserispor at the end of November.
Hamza Hamzaoglu's side travelled to Fenerbahce on Sunday and it was a comfortable afternoon for the hosts, who dispatched Rizespor's defence on four occasions as well as having twice as many shots on Gokhan Akkan's goal.
Rizespor have conceded 31 goals in 15 matches at the beginning of this campaign, the worst record in the Turkish top flight, but they will be happy to be back on home soil this weekend, having not picked up a single point on their travels so far.
Saturday's hosts have won their last three games in the league at the Caykur Didi Stadyumu, keeping two clean sheets in those games, suggesting that their home form is going to be key in helping Rizespor avoid the drop this season.
Goztepe are currently on their best run of the campaign, having not lost in four matches across all competitions, and a 2-1 win against Gaziantep FK on Monday ensured that Nestor El Maestro's side stayed within touching distance of 16th place.
Adis Jahovic gave his side a 2-0 lead at half time in that match, and despite Obinna Nwobodo getting shown his marching orders by the referee inside 15 minutes of the second half, Goztepe held on to collect three points.
That was only Goztepe's third win of the league season, the same amount as Saturday's opponents, but it followed a couple of 1-1 draws at the end of November which has helped the side remain close to the three teams above the relegation zone.
Goztepe are unlikely to be fazed by Rizespor's current good home form, as the visitors have scored twice as many goals in one less game on their travels this season, meaning that it is likely Goztepe will get on the scoresheet on Saturday.
The last meeting between these two teams came towards the end of last season, when Goztepe came out on top with a 2-0 win over Rizespor which was their revenge after losing 3-2 earlier in that campaign.
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Team News
Ronaldo Mendes suffered a knee injury only two games into this season and he will continue to be absent for Rizespor, but he is nearing a return to action after a lengthy spell on the sidelines.
Midfielder Damjan Djokovic is currently Rizespor's top scorer this campaign having netted four times, but the home side need to start looking for striker Joel Pohjanpalo to find the back of the net and provide more of an attacking threat.
Centre-back duo Sebastian Holmen and Selim Ay are certain to start on Saturday, with the latter already producing his best goalscoring season having popped up with three strikes so far.
Wilker Angel, Kerim Alici and Marko Mihojevic will continue their absence from Goztepe's squad, while Jahovic will start up top for the visitors after coming back from a slight injury last month.
Nwobodo will be unavailable for selection after his sending off last time out, and he could be replaced by Yalcin Kayan in the central area of midfield.
The away side will play in their favoured 3-4-2-1 formation, with Dino Arslanagic, Atinc Nukan and Atakan Cankaya making up the defensive trio in front of goalkeeper Irfan Egribayat.
Caykur Rizespor possible starting lineup:
Akkan; Sertel, Holmen, Ay, Baiano; Djokovic, Sabo; Boyd, Boldrin, Umar; Pohjanpalo
Goztepe SK possible starting lineup:
Egribayat; Cankaya, Nukan, Arslanagic; Emir, Aydogdu, Kayan, Paluli; Akbunar, Lourency; Jahovic
We say: Caykur Rizespor 1-2 Goztepe SK
Goztepe will be confident after stringing together a couple of positive results but Rizespor are back on home soil where they have been better in recent weeks, suggesting that this will be a tight game.
The visitors may just have enough to take all three points on Saturday, using their good goalscoring form away from home to outscore Rizespor.
Top tip
Sammy Wynne
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 Caykur Rizespor win with a probability of 38.49%. A win for Goztepe SK had a probability of 34.12% and a draw had a probability of 27.4%.
The most likely scoreline for a Caykur Rizespor win was 1-0 with a probability of 11.05%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (8.19%) and 2-0 (6.98%). The likeliest Goztepe SK win was 0-1 (10.26%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.96%). The actual scoreline of 3-1 was predicted with a 3.4% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Caykur Rizespor would win this match.
