Round eight in the Turkish Super Lig sees Istanbul Basaksehir host Gaziantep at the Basaksehir Fatih Terim Stadium on Saturday.
Basaksehir could leapfrog the away side in the table, an outcome that would take them out of the league's relegation places.
Match preview
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Super Lig's 2020 champions, Basaksehir, have had a horrible start to the 2023-24 season, losing five of their seven league games to sit 18th in the standings, two points from safety.
Cagdas Atan's men avoided a sixth defeat last weekend when they held top-half Kayserispor to a goalless encounter but must show decisive execution to secure maximum points for only the second time this season.
Basaksehir's only victory this season was a 2-0 success at Istanbulspor, leaving them without a home victory to celebrate all this term.
The fact that Atan's men have netted just once in 270 minutes of football is unideal, but the concession of five away goals adds to the disappointment they feel heading into gameweek eight.
No club in the league has played worse on home soil at the start of the season than Basaksehir, a statistic they seek to change this weekend.
Gaziantep are the visitors this weekend, seeking to inflict even more home misery on their struggling hosts, even if their position in the table puts that ambition in doubt.
GFK are ranked 16th on the log, two points and as many places above Basaksehir, suggesting Saturday's encounter could go either way.
Marius Sumudica's men have claimed two victories from seven games, with one each at home and on their travels, interestingly claiming maximum points in their last away game — beating new boys Samsunspor.
There are some discernible patterns from Gaziantep's away games, including that goals have been conceded in every match outside South-eastern Anatolia.
Whether Basaksehir takes advantage of the visiting side's soft underbelly is anyone's guess, but it will not be a dull game at Basaksehir Fatih Terim Stadium on Saturday.
Team News
Usual first-choice goalkeeper Muhammed Sengezer is still out injured, so Volkan Babacan should start in goal for Basaksehir this weekend.
Leo Duarte, Serder Gurler and Omer Sahiner are in the wars and should miss out on Saturday's action.
Ilker Karakas is the away side's only injury doubt, giving Sumudica a relatively healthy squad this weekend.
Gaziantep are expected to utilise a 3-4-3 in the game, and both wing-backs could play a significant part in round eight's outcome.
Istanbul Basaksehir possible starting lineup:
: Babacan; Dubois, Ba, Opoku, Lima; Turuc, Ozcan, Kartsev; Keny, Figueiredo, Dennis
Gaziantep possible starting lineup:
: Nita; Kizildag, Djilobodji, Nkoulou; Eskihellac, Soyalp, Jevtovic, Morais; Gradel, Dragus, Maxim
We say: Istanbul Basaksehir 2-1 Gaziantep
Basaksehir have claimed wins in three of their last four against Gaziantep in all competitions, and that could become four victories from five this weekend, thus overtaking the visitors in the table.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
