Fenerbahce will be looking to continue their perfect start to the Turkish Super Lig season when they take on Caykur Rizespor at the Sukru Saracoglu Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
After the opening six games, the hosts are top of the league table, while the visitors are down in fourth place, having made a promising start to the campaign.
Match preview
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As they set out to win their first Turkish Super Lig title since 2014, Fenerbahce have made a fantastic start to the campaign, having won all of their opening six games, which means they are top of the table by two points.
During that time, the Yellow Canaries have scored 13 goals, the second-highest amount in the division, while they have also looked solid defensively, keeping clean sheets in four out of their last five matches.
In all competitions, stretching back to their Turkish Cup triumph last season, Ismail Kartal's side are now on a 13-game winning run, having also impressed in Europe, booking their place in the Europa Conference League group stages.
Last time out, Fenerbahce ran out 4-0 winners against Istanbul Basaksehir at the Sukru Saracoglu Stadium, and they are unbeaten at home since April, so they should be full of confidence heading into Sunday's game.
Not only that, but FB have won their last eight matches against their upcoming opponents, most recently running out 2-1 winners in the Turkish Cup round of 16 last season, before going on to win the competition in June.
Caykur Rizespor will be well aware of the difficulty of the task that awaits them, but they have also looked impressive this season, after winning promotion to the Turkish top flight last term.
Rizespor have collected 11 points from their opening six games, and they are now on a five-game unbeaten run, which means they are in fourth place at this early juncture in the season.
Ilhan Palut's side taking anything from Sunday's game would be a huge upset, but they have already proven they are capable of winning against the odds away from home this season, defeating Trabzonspor 3-2 at Papara Park back in August.
Since then, the club from Rize have also chalked up victories against Karagumruk and Konyaspor, before picking up a respectable point against Sivasspor in their last match, drawing 1-1 after Dal Varesanovic cancelled out Samuel Saiz's opener.
Team News
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Fenerbahce will be without long-term absentees Lincoln, Emre Mor and Luan Peres, who miss out with knee injuries, while Cengiz Under is also unavailable for selection, having been ruled out of the last three matches due to a muscle problem.
After the 4-0 victory in the last match, there is little reason for Kartal to make too many changes, but Edin Dzeko could be replaced by Michy Batshuayi, as the striker set up the fourth goal after being brought on as a substitute last time out.
As for Rizespor, Efe Tecimer remains sidelined due to a knee injury, but there are no fresh issues for Palut to deal with heading into Sunday's game.
Altin Zeqiri is without a goal or assist in his six outings this season, so Benhur Keser could come back into the side at left-wing, having scored two goals in the 3-2 win at Trabzonspor.
Fenerbahce possible starting lineup:
Livakovic; Kadioglu, Djiku, Becao, Oosterwolde; Fred, Yuksek, Tadic, Szymanski, Kahveci; Djeko
Caykur Rizespor possible starting lineup:
Akkan; Sahin, Mocsi, Topcu, Pehlivan; Pala, Shelvey, Sauer, Varesanovic, Zeqiri; Gaich
We say: Fenerbahce 2-0 Caykur Rizespor
Fenerbahce have made a fantastic start to the campaign, and they have won 13 games in all competitions stretching back to last season.
As such, despite the fact Caykur Rizespor have looked promising at the beginning of the season, we expect the hosts to record a routine victory this weekend.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Dominic Lund
