Konyaspor will be looking to snap their two-game losing streak and confirm their place in next season's Conference League when they welcome Hatayspor to the Konya Buyuksehir Arena on Sunday.

The Guneyin Yildizi, meanwhile, head into the game on a run of seven matches without a win and will be desperate to end this dry spell and move into the top half of the Super Lig standings.

Match preview

Konyaspor failed to arrest their slump in form in the Super Lig as they fell to a 3-2 defeat against Antalyaspor when the sides met at the Antalya Stadium last Monday.

After coming from behind twice to take a 2-2 draw into the half-time break, American forward Haji Wright completed the turnaround for the hosts as he calmly converted his 66th-minute penalty.

This followed a 2-1 defeat at the Konya Buyuksehir Arena against sixth-placed Fatih Karagumruk on April 30 which saw their six-game unbeaten run on home turf come to an end.

With 64 points from 36 games, Konyaspor are currently third in the Super Lig standings, three points above Istanbul Basaksehir in the final Conference League qualification spot.

Hatayspor, on the other hand, turned in a resilient performance as they came from behind to snatch a late draw against league leaders Trabzonspor last Friday.

Following a drab first half at the New Hatay Stadium, the game sparked into life three minutes into the second period when Djaniny opened the scoring but former Stoke City forward Mame Biram Diouf struck in the fourth minute of added time to force a share of the spoils.

Hatayspor have now failed to taste victory in any of their last seven outings, picking up four draws and losing three since claiming a 3-0 victory over Fatih Karagumruk on March 12.

With 50 points from 36 games, Omer Erdogan's side are currently 11th in the league standings, level on points with 10th-placed Kasimpasa in the top half of the table with two games left to play.

On the back of a sixth-placed finish last season, Hatayspor's underperformance this term has been owing to their struggles on the road, where they have managed just fine wins and picked up 18 points from 18 games so far.

Team News

Konyaspor will be without the experience of 30-year-old Paul-Jose M'Poku, who is set to miss his second straight game after coming off with a knee injury against Fatih Karagumruk on April 30.

Albanian forward Sokol Cikalleshi, who is currently the club's leading goalscorer with 10 goals to his name, will push for a starting role after coming off the bench in the loss to Antalyaspor last time out.

Meanwhile, Hatayspor will once again make do with the absence of Kamil Ahmet Corekci, who came off with a muscle injury 45 minutes into April's game against Sivasspor.

He is joined on the club's injury table by Malian midfielder Adama Traore, who has been out of action since last February through a ligament problem.

Isaac Sackey adds to the Guneyin Yildizi's midfield crisis after the Ghanaian international was forced off with a muscle injury just 29 minutes into last week's draw with Trabzonspor.

Konyaspor possible starting lineup:
Sehic; Skubic, Cagiran, Bardakci, Haubert; Dikmen, Hadziahmetovic; Michalak, Cekici, Bytyqi; Hassan

Hatayspor possible starting lineup:
Mohamedi; Bas, Adekugbe, Kaplan, Oksuz; Lobjanidze, Ergun; Boudjemaa, Saint-Louis, El Kaabi; Yildirim

We say: Konyaspor 2-1 Hatayspor

While Konyaspor have suffered a slump in form, they will fancy their chances against an opposing side who are yet to taste victory away from home this year. Hatayspor put on a solid display to hold Trabzonspor to a draw last time out, but we predict they will come crashing back down to earth with Konyaspor claiming all three points.

Written by
Joshua Ojele

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