Round 22 of the 2023-24 Turkish Super Lig season commences with a meeting between Hatayspor and Alanyaspor at the Mersin Stadyumu on Tuesday.
The sides head into this one off the back of contrasting results last time out, but the encounter promises to be keenly contested nonetheless.
Match preview
Hatayspor were on the receiving end of a disappointing 3-0 defeat against Kasimpasa in Saturday's meeting at the Recep Tayyip Erdogan Stadyumu.
Volkan Demirel's men went into the interval on level terms before second-half goals from Claudio Winck, Nuno Da Costa and Mamadou Fall put them to the sword.
As a result, the Stars of the South have dropped to 17th in the Turkish Super Lig table, albeit inside the drop zone only on goal difference.
Coming up next is the challenge of an opposing outfit with little separating the teams over the most recent seven clashes, which have yielded two wins apiece and three draws.
Unbeaten in all but one of their last eight matches on home turf, Tuesday's hosts now go in search of a much-needed return to winning ways in front of their fans.
Alanyaspor showed great powers of recovery to claim a narrow 2-1 win over Caykur Rizespor at the Kirbiyik Holding Stadyumu on Saturday afternoon.
After going behind to Dal Varesanovic's opener, Fatih Tekke's men restored parity through Efecan Karaca before Pione Sisto completed the turnaround in second-half stoppage time.
With 25 points amassed from their 21 league matches so far, Alanyaspor sit 13th in the standings, four points clear of the relegation zone.
Currently with the second-worst away attacking record in the division, Tuesday's visitors have work to do at the top end of the pitch if they are to come out on top here.
Team News
Efecan Karaca marked his return to action with a lovely strike last time out and is expected to retain his place in the Alanyaspor starting lineup.
Loide Augusto is unavailable for the away side as he is currently on international duty with Angola at the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations.
Eighteen-year-old Ibrahim Demir remains sidelined with a knee injury, which has seen him fail to feature for Hatayspor since early December.
Didier Lamkel Ze is also out of contention for the home side through an ankle problem, but the forward is closing in on a return to action.
Hatayspor possible starting lineup:
Bekaj; Corekci, Maksimovic, Kilama, Alici; Aburjania, Saglam; Rivas, Dele-Bashiru, Beyaz; Strandberg
Alanyaspor possible starting lineup:
Taskiran; Balkovec, Aliti, Lima, Hadergjonaj; Fer, Novais; Aydin, Karaca, Ozdemir; Cordova
We say: Hatayspor 1-0 Alanyaspor
With two of the division's lowest-scoring teams going head-to-head, we are anticipating a drab and cagey affair. That said, we just about back the hosts to get the job done come the end of the 90 minutes.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
