Fenerbahce will bid to extend their winning start to the Turkish Super Lig season when struggling Istanbul Basaksehir visit the Sukru Saracoglu Stadium on Thursday.
Following five successive victories, the Yellow Canaries sit two points clear of Galatasaray, while the Grey Owls find themselves 17th after losing four of their first five matches.
Match preview
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Fenerbahce made it five wins from five with a 1-0 victory over Alanyaspor last time out, with Irfan Kahveci scoring the only goal of the game on the stroke of half time, although the visitors racked up 15 shots throughout the contest while limiting the hosts to a solitary attempt on target.
Not only have the Yellow Canaries won each of their five league games this season, but they have also conceded just three goals in the process, meaning that Ismail Kartal's side boast the joint-best defensive record in the Turkish top flight.
When you look at the bigger picture, Fenerbahce have won each of their 12 encounters across all competitions in 2023-24, making it through three Europa Conference League qualifying rounds before claiming a 3-1 victory over Nordsjaelland in the competition proper last week.
Having scored 33 goals across their 12 victories this term - averaging 2.75 goals per game - Fener will be confident of heaping more misery on struggling Istanbul Basaksehir, who find themselves in the relegation zone following a dismal start to the campaign.
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Basaksehir's season went from bad to worse as they suffered a 2-1 home defeat against Galatasaray last weekend, facing a barrage of 16 shots while registering a single attempt on target, with goals from Hakim Ziyech and Mauro Icardi inflicting another loss on the Super Lig strugglers.
Cagdas Atan's men started their campaign with three consecutive defeats, failing to score in losses against Alnyaspor, Fatih Karagumruk and Konyaspor, although they managed to stop the rot with a 2-0 victory over Istanbulspor after the international break.
However, the Grey Owls swiftly returned to losing ways last time out and remain in the relegation zone as a result, having taken three points from a possible 15 this season, while only the bottom two clubs - Istanbulspor and Samsunspor - have picked up fewer points.
To make matters worse, Basaksehir have netted just three goals in five outings this term, meaning that Atan's side possess the second-worst offensive record in the Super Lig, so new attackers like Emmanuel Dennis and Krzysztof Piatek will need to step up.
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Team News
Fenerbahce are still without long-term injury absentee Lincoln, who has not featured since March due to a knee problem, while key forward Emre Mor also remains sidelined with a muscle issue.
Having racked up six goals and six assists in nine appearances following his move from Inter Milan, Edin Dzeko will continue to lead the line for the hosts, with Irfan Kahveci, Sebastian Szymanski and Dusan Tadic providing attacking support to the lone striker.
Szymanski has bagged five goals and four assists since arriving from Dynamo Moscow, while Tadic has chipped in with four goals and two assists following his summer transfer from Ajax.
Istanbul Basaksehir have a couple of injury concerns of their own at the moment, with Guinea-Bissau international Edgar Ie and Polish forward Patryk Szysz expected to miss the midweek clash.
Cagdas Atan will likely deploy a 4-1-4-1 formation on Thursday, with Krzysztof Piatek leading the line, while Eden Kartsev will sit in front of the back four and offer defensive support, enabling Emmanuel Dennis and Serdar Gurler to join the attack.
Fenerbahce possible starting lineup:
Livakovic; Osayi-Samuel, Becao, Djiku, Kadioglu; Yuksek, Fred; Kahveci, Szymanski, Tadic; Dzeko
Istanbul Basaksehir possible starting lineup:
Babacan; Dubois, Duarte, Ba, Lima; Kartsev; Guler, Aleksic, Ozcan, Dennis; Piatek
We say: Fenerbahce 3-0 Istanbul Basaksehir
While Fenerbahce have conceded three goals across five Super Lig victories this season, Istanbul Basaksehir have scored three goals while suffering four defeats.
With that in mind, we expect the Yellow Canaries to cruise to another comfortable win on home soil, piling more pressure on Atan and his players.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Ben Morris
