Seeking to pick up a fifth win on the bounce in the Turkish Super Lig, Konyaspor take a trip to the NEF Stadyumu to square off against Galatasaray on Friday.
Okan Buruk's side, who are unbeaten in their last four games, currently sit fifth in the league standings but could leapfrog their hosts and move to the top of the league table with all three points this weekend.
Match preview
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Galatasaray picked up their first set of consecutive wins in the new Super Lig campaign last Sunday when they held firm to see off Kasimpasa 3-2 at the Recep Tayyip Erdogan Stadium.
After Bafetimbi Gomis netted in the 20th minute to cancel out Stephane Bahoken's opener, Kerem Akturkoglu scored a second-half brace to put the visitors two goals up, before Sadik Ciftpinar slashed the deficit with a 90th-minute strike.
Galatasaray are unbeaten in each of their most recent four games, claiming three wins and one draw while scoring six goals and keeping two clean sheets since a 1-0 home loss at the hands of Giresunspor on August 13.
Buruk's men have now picked up four wins, one draw and one defeat in their opening six games of the season to collect 13 points and sit fifth in the Super Lig standings, one point adrift of Friday's visitors at the top of the pile.
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Konyaspor, who finished third in the league standings last term, have flown out of the blocks this season and head into the weekend as one of just two sides yet to taste defeat after six rounds of matches.
Ilhan Palut's side kicked off the season with consecutive draws against Ankaragucu and Istanbul Basaksehir respectively, before claiming four wins from their subsequent four outings, including a 1-0 victory over Hatayspor last weekend.
In a cagey affair at the Eskisehir New Ataturk Stadium, Soner Dikmen and substitute Bruno Paz combined six minutes after the hour mark to hand the home side the only goal of the game and condemn Hatayspor to their fourth loss in their first five outings.
Konyaspor head into Friday's matchup unbeaten in eight consecutive Super Lig outings, claiming five wins and three draws since a 3-2 defeat at the hands of Alanyaspor when the sides squared off back in May.
However, next up for the Anadolu Kartali is the daunting challenge of taking on a Galatasaray side who they have failed to beat in 18 of the last 20 meetings between the teams, losing 12 and claiming six draws since 2008.
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Team News
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Galatasaray will take to the pitch without 29-year-old midfielder Fredrik Midtsjo, who has missed the last four games consecutively after sustaining a calf injury against Giresunspor on August 13.
However, the hosts will be boosted by the return of versatile defender Abdulkerim Bardakci, who missed the trip to Kasimpasa last time out after receiving a red card against Gaziantep two Mondays ago.
Gomis continued his red-hot form in front of goal and the veteran forward, who has four goals to his name this season, should lead the Galatasaray attack once again, alongside Akturkoglu, who opened his account for the season with his brace against Kasimpasa.
As far as Konyaspor are concerned, Palut will have to cope without the experience of Brazilian midfielder Amilton, who has been out injured since August's game against Istanbul Basaksehir.
He is joined on the Anadolu Kartali's injury table by Turkish defender Ogulcan Ulgun, who has been out of action since July after tearing his meniscus during pre-season.
Galatasaray possible starting lineup:
Muslera; Boey, Nelsson, Bayram, Van Aanholt; Torreira, Oliveira; Akgun, Mertens, Akturkoglu; Gomis
Konyaspor possible starting lineup:
Sehic; Oguz, Yazgili, Calvo, Haubert; Dikmen, Hadziahmetovic; Muric, Cekici, Bytyqi; Demir
We say: Galatasaray 3-1 Konyaspor
Galatasaray and Konyaspor have both kicked off the new campaign in fine form and find themselves separated by just one point in the upper echelons of the table. The hosts have been imperious in the history of this fixture and we predict that they will extend their dominance over the Anadolu Kartali by claiming all three points.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joshua Ojele
