Relegation candidates Hatayspor will be looking to breathe new life into their Turkish Super Lig survival bid when they face Konyaspor at Konya Metropolitan Municipality Stadium on Sunday.
The visitors picked up their first league win of the season in their last game before the international break, and will hope that any momentum has carried through to this match against a Konyaspor side that conceded twice in stoppage time to lose against Goztepe last time out.
Match preview
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The late defeat against Goztepe meant that Konyaspor suffered their first defeat under Recep Ucar in only his second game in charge of the club.
The 49-year-old took over from the departing Ali Camdali at the end of October and managed to guide his new club to a 3-2 victory against Istanbul Basaksehir in his first game.
Under Camdali, Konyaspor narrowly avoided relegation from the Super Lig last season, as they survived by just one point, and after a slow start to the new season, his reign ended with only one win in his final five games.
Having only made the managerial switch last month, the hosts are currently sitting just three points above the drop zone, currently occupied by this weekend's opponents, even after they parted ways with manager Ozhan Pulat in September.
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His replacement, Riza Calimbay, is an experienced manager in Turkey, having managed many clubs in the country – including two stints at Besiktas – and he is now tasked with trying to keep Hatayspor in the Super Lig.
Having finished just one place ahead of the hosts last season due to a better goal difference, the visitors are familiar with the threat of relegation.
Heading into the weekend, they sit second from bottom in the division having picked up only six points from 11 games so far, with only Adana Demirspor behind them in the standings and six points already separating them from safety.
They will be welcome visitors, given they have the worst away record in the league, with their only point away from home coming at Alanyaspor back in September.
However, last time out, the visitors injected some life into their season with a 3-1 win against Gaziantep to secure their first league win of the campaign.
Until then, their only victory had come in the Turkish Cup against Inegol Kafkas Genclikspor, but one positive they can take from their recent encounters is two wins from their last three games in all competitions.
Team News
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The hosts will be missing veteran centre-back Josip Calusic, who is out until December with a ligament injury.
Blaz Kramer is expected to start in attack for Konyaspor, despite failing to register a goal so far this season - their biggest goal threat so far this year has been Alassane Ndao, who has scored four goals in 10 games.
Meanwhile, Hatayspor are without midfielder Massanga Matondo, who is sidelined until mid-December due to a foot injury.
Vincent Aboubakar is expected to lead the line for the visitors, although the former Porto striker has yet to score for his new club since joining in the summer.
Konyaspor possible starting lineup:
Slowik; Haubert, Boranijasevic, Bazoer, Demirbag; Pedrinho, Jevtovic, Aleksic, Erdogan, Ndao; Kramer
Hatayspor possible starting lineup:
Kardesler; Demir, Calvo, Kilama, Corekci; Diack, Saglam, Rivas, Pedro, Fernandes; Aboubakar
We say: Konyaspor 2-0 Hatayspor
Both sides have had difficult starts to the campaign and will be hoping their recent managerial changes can help them climb up the league table.
However, with seven defeats already this season for the visitors, we expect that trend to continue this weekend in a relatively comfortable home win.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Tom Humphrey
