Umraniyespor will be looking to snap their three-match winless run and kickstart their race against the drop when they face Fatih Karagumruk at the Ataturk Olympic Stadium on Tuesday.
Having picked up a comfortable 3-1 victory in October's reverse fixture, Andrea Pirlo's men set out to complete the double over the visitors and strengthen their position in the top half of the Super Lig table.
Match preview
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Fatih Karagumruk suffered their first league defeat since the turn of the year as they were beaten 2-1 by title-chasing Fenerbahce when the sides squared off last Monday.
After Magomed Ozdoev struck in the 24th minute to hand the hosts a first-half lead, Miha Zajc and Attila Szalai scored second-half goals to turn the game on its head and hand Fenerbahce their 19th league win.
Pirlo's side were previously on a run of seven consecutive games without defeat, claiming three wins and four draws since January's penalty-shootout loss to Istanbul Basaksehir in the Turkiye Kupasi round of 16.
Fatih Karagumruk have picked up eight wins, 10 draws and lost eight of their 26 games to collect 34 points and sit ninth in the Super Lig table, albeit with two games in hand.
Umraniyespor, on the other hand, suffered another blow in their survival race as they were beaten 3-1 by Kayserispor at the Kadir Has Stadium last Monday.
After Mame Thiam and Mehmet Umut Nayir scored for either side to end the first half level, Bernard Mensah scored eight minutes after the restart to put the hosts ahead before Carlos Mane made sure of the result in the ninth minute of stoppage time.
Unraniyespor have now gone three consecutive games without a win, picking up two points from a possible nine, and are winless in nine of their last 10 outings across all competitions, losing six and claiming three draws since mid-January.
This poor run of form has seen Recep Ucar's men plunge into the relegation zone as they sit 18th in the league table, level on 23 points with rock-bottom Hatayspor and four points away from safety.
While Unraniyespor will be looking to stop the rot and kickstart their race against the drop, Tuesday's game pits them against a Karagumruk side who they have failed to defeat in six of their last seven meetings since November 2013.
Team News
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Frosinone loanee Matteo Ricci, who has 14 league starts under his belt, will serve a one-match suspension after crossing the yellow card threshold with his booking against Fenerbahce.
In his absence, the experienced Andrea Bertolacci should come into the Fatih Karagumruk XI, teaming up with Otabek Shukurov and Ozdoev at the centre of the park.
On the injury front, the hosts remain without Efe Tatli and 19-year-old Efecan Mizrakci, who have been ruled out through ACL and ankle injuries respectively.
Turkish defender Emir Tintis suffered a severe injury in November's cup clash against Kirsehir Belediyespor and will play no part in the midweek clash.
As for Umraniyespor, Ghana international Isaac Sackey is ruled out of the trip to the Ataturk Olympic Stadium after picking up a 98th-minute red card against Kayserispor last time out.
Veteran forward Onur Ayik was forced off injured in the aforementioned game and should the 33-year-old fail to shake off his injury, former Al Ahly man Geraldo should come into the visitors' XI.
Fatih Karagumruk possible starting lineup:
Sen; Dursun, Baniya, Dresevic, Mercan; Shukurov, Bertolacci, Ozdoev; Colley, Diagne, Borini
Umraniyespor possible starting lineup:
Ozer; Popov, Goksu, Epureanu, Atasayar; Gurbulak, Yilmaz, Mrsic; Geraldo, Nayir, Sekidika
We say: Fatih Karagumruk 2-1 Umraniyespor
On a run of one win since early January, Unraniyespor head into Tuesday knowing that another defeat could see them slip further into trouble at the bottom end of the table. However, they face a resolute Karagumruk side who will be looking to bounce back from their defeat to Fenerbahce. While we expect the visitors to put up a fight, we are backing Pirlo's side to come away with a slender victory.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Joshua Ojele
