Caykur Rizespor, who sit 10 points adrift of safety, enter Saturday's Super Lig contest against Konyaspor in poor form after winning just one of their last nine matches.

The visitors, meanwhile, are battling it out for second spot, and they have the chance to clinch back-to-back victories at the weekend.

Match preview

With just seven games remaining, the hosts need to make up a 10-point gap if they are to prolong their four-season stay in the top flight.

Caykur Rizespor's task may be an impossible one, but if they are to be relegated then they will want to go down swinging, however, their recent form suggests that may not be the case.

Five of their last six matches have ended in defeat, including their most recent encounter which saw them fall short against Alanyaspor.

Emre Akbaba gave Alanyaspor an early lead before Efecan Karaca struck from the spot on the hour mark to double his side's advantage and although Papiss Cisse pulled a goal back, Caykur Rizepsor were unable to rescue a point.

Despite their recent poor from, Saturday's hosts do have the chance to claim consecutive home victories after they beat the league leaders Trabzonspor 3-2 in their previous home outing.

As for Konyaspor, they are dreaming of reaching next season's Champions League qualifying rounds, but if that dream is to become reality then they must hold onto the second place that they currently occupy.

Fenerbahce are hot on their heels, with two points separating them from Konyaspor, but Saturday's visitors do enter the final seven matches in a rich vein of form after winning three of their last four matches.

Galatasaray were dispatched via a 2-0 scoreline before they emerged victorious from a five-goal thriller against Kayserispor, but they dropped crucial points to Fenerbahce in their last away contest, losing 2-1 to the Yellow Canaries.

However, rather than dwell on that defeat, Konyaspor got their Champions League hopes back on track last time out, as Sokol Cikalleshi, Ogulcan Ulgun and Zymer Bytyqi all netted to guide their team to a 3-0 victory over Goztepe.

The second-placed side now have the chance to claim a league double over Caykur Rizespor after thrashing Saturday's opponents 3-0 in the reverse fixture.

Team News

After scoring in the defeat to Alanyaspor, Cisse could return to the starting lineup for Saturday's contest.

Gokhan Akkan, meanwhile, has started the last four games in goal for Caykur Rizespor, and he is expected to keep his place between the posts.

There could also be a spot in the starting XI for Fernando Boldrin, who featured as a substitute against Alanyaspor.

The visitors, on the other hand, could name an unchanged lineup for Saturday's encounter following an impressive performance in their last outing.

That would mean that Abdulkerim Bardakci will retain his place in the backline after returning to the side against Goztepe.

Cikalleshi scored his 10th league goal of the season in the 3-0 victory last weekend, and he will now be aiming to score in back-to-back games.

Caykur Rizespor possible starting lineup:
Akkan; Gonul, Holmen, Ponck, Sertel; Fernandes, Phiri; Boyd, Boldrin, Potuk; Cisse

Konyaspor possible starting lineup:
Sehic; Skubic, Demirbag, Bardakci, Guilherme; Hadziahmetovic, Ulgun; Amilton, Cekici, Bytyqi; Cikalleshi

We say: Caykur Rizespor 1-3 Konyaspor

Caykur Rizespor will be looking to draw inspiration from the 3-2 victory that they picked up against the league leaders in their last home outing, but with Konyaspor seeking Champions League qualification, we think that the visitors will showcase their quality to collect all three points.

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