Fenerbahce and Fatih Karagumruk return to action when they go head to head at the Sukru Saracoglu Stadium in round 13 of the Turkish Super Lig on Sunday.
Having failed to win the previous seven meetings between the teams, the Kara Kirmizi will head into the weekend looking to finally get one over the hosts and pick up successive wins for the first time since March.
Match preview
© Reuters
Fenerbahce failed to find their feet in their final outing before the international break as they were held to a goalless draw by Adana Demirspor at the New Adana Stadium on November 12.
Ismail Kartal's men have now failed to win any of their last three matches across all competitions, losing 2-0 to Ludogorets in the Conference League on November 9 while picking up one point from the last six available in the Super Lig.
Despite their loss against Ludogorets, Fenerbahce currently lead the way in Group H of the Conference League with a two-point cushion over second-placed Nordsjaelland.
After two successive games on the road, the Yellow Canaries now return home where they have won 10 of their last 11 matches across all competitions, with a 3-2 defeat at the hands of Trabzonspor on November 4 being the exception.
With 31 points from 12 Super Lig matches, Fenerbahce also sit at the top of the league standings, albeit only above second-placed Galatasaray on goal difference
© Reuters
Fatih Karagumruk, on the other hand, maintained their fine run of results during the international break as they picked up a 2-1 victory over Istanbul Basaksehir in a friendly fixture last Sunday.
Prior to that, the Kara Kirmizi turned in a superb team display in their last Super Lig outing as they cruised to a 3-0 victory over Sivasspor courtesy of goals from Valentin Eysserio, Guven Yalcin and Serdar Dursun.
This underlined Fatih Karagumruk's impressive turnaround in recent weeks as they have now gone four consecutive games without defeat, picking up two wins and two draws since a 2-1 defeat against Alanyaspor on October 6.
Their upturn in form has been in no small part owing to the solid job done at the defensive end of the pitch, where they have kept three clean sheets in their last four games, having managed just two and conceded nine goals in their eight matches preceding that run.
Alparslan Erdem's side have now picked up three wins, five draws and lost four of their 12 Super Lig matches to collect 14 points and sit 12th in the table, level on points with 13th-placed Sivasspor.
While Karagumruk will look to keep the juggernaut rolling, next up is the stern challenge of taking on an opposing side who they have failed to get the better of in their previous seven attempts, losing four and claiming three draws since August 2020.
Team News
© Reuters
Fenerbahce will take to the pitch without the defensive duo of Alexander Djiku, who suffered a broken leg back in October, and Serdar Aziz, who is currently recuperating from an ankle injury.
Brazilian midfielder Lincoln continues his long road to full fitness after sustaining an ankle injury back in March, while Luan Peres has been ruled out through a knee problem.
Karagumruk remain without Nigerian midfielder Lawrence Nicholas, who has been sidelined since coming off with a groin injury in August's league opener against Besiktas.
Federico Ceccherini was forced off injured midway through the game against Sivasspor last time out, and the Hellas Verona loanee is a major doubt for Sunday's matchup.
Should he fail to shake off the injury, Frederic Veseli should come into the Fatih Karagumruk XI, forming the back four with Davide Biraschi, Ibrahim Dresevic and Levent Mercan.
With his strike against Sivasspor, Yalcin has found the target on three occasions in his last five matches and the 24-year-old should lead the visitors' attack once again, alongside former Fiorentina man Eysseric.
Fenerbahce possible starting lineup:
Livakovic; Mulur, Oosterwolde, Akaydin, Kadioglu; Crespo, Zajc; Kahveci, Szymanski, Tadic; Dzeko
Fatih Karagumruk possible starting lineup:
Bilgin; Biraschi, Dresevic, Ceccherini, Mercan; Feghouli, Sangare, Rohden, Keles; Yalcin, Eysseric
We say: Fenerbahce 2-0 Fatih Karagumruk
Fenerbahce have suffered a slump in form of late but they boast the firepower needed to turn things around this weekend.
While we expect Karagumruk to put up a fight, we predict the hosts will come away with all three points in front of their home supporters.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Joshua Ojele
