Besiktas will hope to keep their slim hopes of a top-four finish in the Turkish Super Lig table alive on Sunday, when they make the trip to Kayserispor.
A 3-0 defeat to Kasimpasa last time out left the Turkish giants seventh, six points behind fourth place with just four league games to go.
Match preview
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In what has been a mixed season in the Turkish top flight, without any real consistency, Kayserispor have at least been comfortably able to avoid being dragged into the relegation scrap.
A run of five straight defeats between late February and early April will have been concerning for Hikmet Karaman's side, as it left them on 38 points from 31 games, but the Anadolu Yildizi quickly removed any doubt with a hard-fought 2-1 win away at Goztepe SK thanks to goals from Emrah Bassan and Olivier Kemen.
They have since followed that up with back-to-back 1-1 draws with Caykur Rizespor and Antalyaspor either side of a narrow defeat to runaway league leaders Trabzonspor in the first leg of their Turkish Cup semi-final tie.
After the latest stalemate with Antalyaspor, in which Joseph Attamah's opener was quickly cancelled out, the Anadolu Yildizi's survival was officially confirmed, with a 13-point lead over the bottom four with four games to go, meaning they can now turn their attention upwards and focus on improving on their current position in 14th spot.
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They welcome a Besiktas side desperate to get back to winning ways after a disappointing run of results in their top-four push.
In what has been a particularly underwhelming season on the whole for Black Eagles, new manager Valerien Ismael arrived in late March with the team winless in three games.
While he was able to oversee a win over Alanyaspor after a draw to begin his reign, the Turkish giants were unable to put a winning run together on the back of that, being forced to settle for a goalless stalemate away at strugglers Giresunspor in the following encounter.
Besiktas then took on 11th-placed Kasimpasa last time out, needing a win to reduce the gap to the top four, but that did not go to plan, as they were on the wrong end of a 3-0 thrashing on home turf with Jackson Muleka hitting a brace and Mortadha Ben Ouanes adding a goal for the visitors.
That leaves the current defending champions six points behind fourth-placed Istanbul Basaksehir with four games to go, meaning they can only hope to win all of their remaining matches and for the sides they are chasing to drop points in the final run of the campaign.
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Team News
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Kayserispor remain without important midfielder Bernard Mensah, who is ruled out for the season, while Yasir Subasi and Abdulkadir Parmak are also sidelined.
Mario Gavranovic was brought back into the starting XI last time out, and he should continue to lead the line, having netted 12 goals for the Anadolu Yildizi this season.
Mame Thiam is another key man going forward, with the Senegalese winger having contributed 10 goals and five assists in just 23 Super Lig appearances this campaign.
Besiktas are without midfielder Souza due to a suspension, while Can Bozdogan and Mert Gunok are set to continue spells on the sidelines.
Important winger Cyle Larin will be pushing to return to the starting XI, while Chelsea loanee Michy Batshuayi will lead the line having netted a team-high tally of 14 goals so far this season.
Elsewhere, Miralem Pjanic brings plenty of quality and experience in midfield, and he could be joined by Atiba Hutchinson in Souza's absence.
Kayserispor possible starting lineup:
Lung; Bulut, Cetin, Hosseini, Carole; Kemen; Civelek, Attamah, Bertolacci, Thiam; Gavranovic
Besiktas possible starting lineup:
Destanoglu; Montero, Welinton, Vida; Rosier, Pjanic, Hutchinson, Yilmaz; Ghezzal, Batshuayi, Larin
We say: Kayserispor 1-2 Besiktas
Besiktas have looked far from their best recently, but, with the quality they possess, we still expect them to take three points on Sunday.
The Black Eagles will know they need four victories to even stand a chance of finishing in the top four, and they should have what it takes to return to winning ways on their travels.
Top tip
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 Besiktas win with a probability of 44.81%. A win for Kayserispor had a probability of 30% and a draw had a probability of 25.2%.
The most likely scoreline for a Besiktas win was 0-1 with a probability of 9.87%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (9.16%) and 0-2 (7.57%). The likeliest Kayserispor win was 1-0 (7.78%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (11.93%). The actual scoreline of 2-3 was predicted with a 2.8% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole and our data analysis both correctly predicted that Besiktas would win this match.
