Caykur Rizespor will look to make it five league games unbeaten on Thursday, when they welcome Pendikspor to the Caykur Didi Stadyumu.
The hosts now find themselves just a single point outside of the top six in the Turkish Super Lig table thanks to an upturn in form, while their visitors sit 19th but just a point adrift of safety.
Match preview
Caykur Rizespor return to action on Thursday aiming to build on a positive run in the Turkish Super Lig, having climbed into the top eight in recent weeks after enduring somewhat of a slow start to the top-flight campaign.
Following their promotion from the second tier last time around, the Black Sea Sparrowhawk managed 14 points from their first 11 outings, winning four of those and losing five, culminating in three straight defeats across late October and early November, but they appear to have turned a corner since, adding two further notches to their wins column and going unbeaten in the last four attempts.
Ilhan Palut's side firstly headed into the November international break on the back of a 1-0 win at home to Istanbulspor, and they have added five further points to their tally in three matches since, returning to action with a goalless stalemate away at Antalyaspor before beating Istanbul Basaksehir 3-2 on home turf as Ibrahim Olawoyin netted his second of the game in injury time, after he and Dal Varesanovic previously had them 2-1 up in the first half.
Then following a 4-0 thrashing of Bucaspor 1928 in the Turkish Cup fourth round, the Black Sea Sparrowhawk were most recently in Super Lig action last Monday in a trip to Ankaragucu, and after trailing from the 14th minute and seeing the hosts reduced to 10 men early in the second half, they would eventually snatch a point deep into injury time as Adolfo Gaich levelled the scores following their own red card in the 95th minute.
While they may come away from that contest slightly disappointed, having only earned a share of the spoils despite their numbers advantage for the final 40 minutes, Caykur Rizespor should certainly still be pleased with their recent run of form which has inspired a climb up to eighth spot, and now with just a one-point gap to the top six and a three-point gap to the top three, they will be desperate to make it five top-flight games unbeaten with a return to winning ways on Thursday.
In their way stand a Pendikspor side who joined them in winning promotion from the second tier last season, with the visitors have experienced a tougher start to life in the Super Lig.
Unlike their hosts, the Pendik outfit entered Turkey's top flight for the first time in their history in the 2023-24 season, and they currently find themselves in the relegation zone after 15 games with 13 points on the board.
Indeed, they failed to win any of their first eight league matches, spelling the end of promotion-winning manager Osman Ozkoylu's tenure, before Ivo Vieira stepped into the hot seat and inspired an impressive upturn in form, as Pendikspor went on to pick up their first three wins in his first four matches, seeing off Konyaspor, Istanbulspor and Samsunspor before the November international break.
They have been unable to build on that improvement since, though, now heading into Thursday's trip in the midst of another losing run, having lost their three league games since returning to action, firstly falling to 4-1 and 2-0 defeats in tough tests against Istanbul Basaksehir and Galatasaray respectively, before most recently losing 2-0 away at Kayserispor last time out as Mame Thiam opened the scoring on the hour mar before Stephane Bahoken put the game out of sight in injury time.
While left disappointed having suffered three straight defeats, Vieira's side do remain just a single point adrift of safety at this stage of the campaign, and they will be keen to bounce back on Thursday and leap out of the bottom four with a fourth league triumph of the campaign.
Team News
While Ilhan Palut will not want to make changes to his Caykur Rizespor side given their impressive run of form, he will be unable to call on defender Emirhan Topcu, who is suspended on Thursday after being sent off in their draw with Ankaragucu last time out.
In his absence, Ibrahim Pehlivan may come into the middle of a back four alongside Khusniddin Alikulov, while Mithat Pala should again join Jonjo Shelvey in the engine room in their 4-2-3-1 shape.
Another change could be the return of Adolfo Gaich, who came off the bench to net their equaliser late on against Ankaragucu, taking his tally to five goals in just 11 appearances since arriving on loan from CSKA Moscow, while Altin Zeqiri and Gustavo Sauer will look to cause further problems from the wings.
Pendikspor should also line up in a 4-2-3-1 shape on Thursday, and Erencan Yardimci should continue to spearhead the attack having notched up five goals in 13 appearances so far this season.
Oscar Romero, who boasts four goals of his own, will hope to return in the middle of a supporting trio after settling for a substitute appearance away at Kayserispor last time out, while Halil Akbunar and Thuram will hope to keep their places on the wings.
Gokcan Kaya should again get the nod to join key man Arnaud Lusamba in midfield, while Berkay Sulungoz and Welinton are likely to continue their partnership in the middle of the defence.
Caykur Rizespor possible starting lineup:
Akkan; Sahin, Aliqulov, Pehlivan, Nielsen; Pala, Shelvey; Sauer, Varesanovic, Zeqiri; Gaich
Pendikspor possible starting lineup:
Canpolat; Ozgenc, Welinton, Sulungoz, Sequeira; Lusamba, Kaya; Thuram, Romero, Akbunar; Yardimci
We say: Caykur Rizespor 2-1 Pendikspor
Slowly gaining confidence and climbing the table, we fancy Caykur Rizespor to continue their improvement with another victory on Thursday against a Pendikspor side who may struggle to match them for quality while also lacking any momentum.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Sam Varley
