Sivasspor prepare for the challenge of Hatayspor at Yeni 4 Eylul Stadyumu on Sunday in matchday eight of the 2022-23 Turkish Super Lig season.
The teams both suffered defeats in their last outings and now set out to get themselves back on track by securing all three points this weekend.
Match preview
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Sivasspor fell to a 2-1 defeat against Ankaragucu when the teams faced off at the Eryaman Stadium on September 18 just before the international break.
Riza Calimbay's men were left with a mountain to climb at half time thanks to strikes from Giorgi Beridze and Ali Sowe before Clinton N'Jie pulled one back in the early exchanges of the second period.
Consequently, the Braves have slipped down to 17th place in the league standings, one point adrift of safety albeit having played an extra game.
Next up is a meeting against an opposing outfit who are yet to emerge victorious in any of the most recent five editions of this fixture all the way back to 2002.
Ahead of a continental commitment against FC Ballkani four days later, Sunday's hosts will look to kickstart their domestic campaign with a much-needed three points here.
Hatayspor's search for a first win of the season continued following a 4-0 thrashing against Kayserispor at the Yeni Hatay Stadyumu two Fridays ago.
Bernard Mensah and Mario Gavranovic both kept their cool from 12 yards either side of strikes from Miguel Cardoso and Andrea Bertolacci to sink Volkan Demirel's men.
With a meagre tally of one point from a possible 18 so far, Guneyin Yildizi remain rooted to the bottom of the Turkish Super Lig table and are in need of a lift.
Still yet to win a competitive game on the road since the turn of the year, Sunday's visitors have it all to do in this one as they look to avoid yet another fruitless outing away from home.
Team News
Sivasspor's Ahmed Musa recently underwent forearm surgery, and the 29-year-old is a guaranteed absentee for this weekend's contest.
Leke James is also unavailable for the home side as the forward has failed to feature in any of the last three games due to an ankle problem.
Following his sending-off just 25 minutes after coming on as a substitute last time out, Hatayspor's Simon Falette is ineligible to take part here.
This could see the Bosnian Ognjen Vranjes return to the starting XI having had to make do with a place on the bench in back to back games.
Sivasspor possible starting lineup:
Vural; Ciftci, Appidangoye, Goutas, Paluli; Charisis, Ulvestad; Gradel, Saba, N'Jie; Angielski
Hatayspor possible starting lineup:
Kardesler; Adekugbe, Oksuz, Vranjes, Bas; Boudjemaa, Ribeiro, Ergun; Lobjanidze, El Kaabi, Saint-Louis
We say: Sivasspor 1-0 Hatayspor
Hatayspor's inability to find the back of the net on a consistent basis has been their biggest undoing this term and while Sivasspor have not been particularly impressive in front of goal either, we are backing the home side to scrape a narrow win.
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Top tip
Adepoju Marvellous
