Bottom-of-the-table Kasimpasa host mid-table Sivasspor at the Recep Tayyip Erdogan Stadium in Saturday's Turkish Super Lig round of action.
The hosts have won just twice all season in their fight against the drop, whilst the visitors are beginning to look back to their best following three straight victories.
Match preview
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Kasimpasa were overtaken by Caykur Rizespor in the Turkish Super Lig last weekend when the former were downed 2-1 at Istanbul Basaksehir following a last-minute goal.
As a result, Saturday's hosts head into matchday 17 rooted to the foot of the table, and seven points from safety as we approach the halfway stage in Turkey's top flight.
A goal in the second minute of stoppage time to lose the even encounter summed up the misery for Hakan Kutlu's side so far this campaign, and leaves them winless in their last five outings.
Although results have improved slightly following the sacking of Cihat Arslan back in October, who won once and lost six times in their opening 10 fixtures this campaign, Kutlu has a huge challenge ahead of him for his side to avoid the drop.
The Turkish boss has overseen two wins, two draws and three defeats across his seven games in charge in all competitions since taking over, whilst Kasimpasa have won two, drawn three and lost three of their eight previous home games in the Turkish Super Lig to this point.
Meanwhile, following a disappointing opening to the campaign that saw Saturday's visitors Sivasspor eliminated from the Europa Conference League in the qualifying stages and win just two of their opening 13 league fixtures, a revival in form has occurred in recent weeks.
Riza Calimbay has overseen his side record three successive wins, as well as earning a clean sheet in each of those outings.
Last weekend's 1-0 victory over giants Galatasaray was perhaps the most impressive of the three, where Faycal Fajr netted the only goal of the game 10 minutes from time.
As a result, last season's fifth-placed side have shot up to 10th place at the time of writing in recent weeks, with six points currently between them and Basaksehir in the European places.
With the possibility of rising up to seventh in the table with another three points on Saturday, Calimbay and his side have plenty of motivation, as well as confidence, to achieve their target at the weekend.
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Team News
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Saturday's hosts are likely to be without at least two players once more on Saturday, with Nabil Dirar and Loret Sadiku remaining on the sidelines.
The duo have been unavailable for the last four matches, whilst Jeffrey Bruma's injury that saw him forced off last weekend will need to be assessed.
As for the visitors, left full-back Ugur Ciftci will sit out the second and final game of his two-match suspension, following his second red card of the season two games ago.
He could be the only absentee potentially, with Aaron Appindangoye and Sefa Yilmaz possibly returning from achilles and ankle injuries respectively.
Kerem Kesgin was replaced with a knock late on, but he is thought to have recovered, which could mean that Calimbay names an unchanged starting 11 following their third win on the bounce last weekend.
Kasimpasa possible starting lineup:
Tekin; Hadergjonaj, Brecka, Donk, Elmaci; Erdogan, Travnik, Serbest, Hajradinovic; Bozok, Eysseric
Sivasspor possible starting lineup:
Vural; Oguz, Goutas, Camara, Erdal; Kesgin, Cofie, Fajr; Henrique, Yatabare, Gradel
We say: Kasimpasa 0-1 Sivasspor
With how tight Sivasspor have been in recent weeks, it is likely that few goals will be witnessed in this clash on Saturday.
Due to their strong recent form though, and Kasimpasa's struggles, we are predicting a narrow victory for the visitors here.
Top tip
Matthew Tranter
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Kasimpasa win with a probability of 40.52%. A win for Sivasspor had a probability of 33.48% and a draw had a probability of 26%.
The most likely scoreline for a Kasimpasa win was 1-0 with a probability of 9.87%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (8.66%) and 2-0 (6.92%). The likeliest Sivasspor win was 0-1 (8.81%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.35%). The actual scoreline of 1-3 was predicted with a 3.2% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole correctly predicted that Sivasspor would win this match.
