Trabzonspor will be bidding to end a disappointing Turkish Super Lig season on a positive note when they travel to Istanbul Basaksehir on Tuesday night.
The visitors, who were champions last season, are currently sixth in the table, two points behind fifth-placed Basaksehir ahead of the meeting between the two sides.
Match preview
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Basaksehir finished fourth in Turkey's top flight last season to qualify for the Europa Conference League, and they managed to progress to the last-16 stage of the 2022-23 competition, eventually losing to Gent.
The Grey Owls will not secure European football for next term via their league position, as they are fifth in the table and cannot finish higher than their current spot.
However, Emre Belozoglu's side will face Fenerbahce in the final of the Turkish Cup next weekend, and a victory in that game would see them book their spot in the Europa Conference League for the 2023-24 campaign.
Basaksehir will enter this match off the back of successive league wins over Gaziantep FK and Adana Demirspor, while they are unbeaten in all competitions since the start of May against Galatasaray.
The Orange-Navy Blues would swap places with Trabzonspor in the table if they were to lose on Tuesday, and they suffered a 1-0 defeat to last season's champions in the reverse match back in January.
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Trabzonspor won the 2021-22 Turkish Super Lig, with a brilliant campaign seeing them pick up 81 points from 38 matches, suffering just three defeats in the process.
However, there has been a drop-off from the Trabzon-based outfit this season, and they will end the campaign either in their current position of sixth, or above Basaksehir with a victory in this match.
Nenad Bjelica's side have been in impressive form over the last month, though, winning four of their last five league matches, including victories in each of their last three.
Trabzonspor have hit the goal trail in recent matches, putting four past Fatih Karagumruk and Giresunspor in back-to-back games before beating Alanyaspor 5-1 on Saturday.
The club will already be planning for next season in the hope of being title challengers once again, and their away form has been comfortably their biggest problem this term, only picking up 11 points from 15 matches, which is one of the worst records in the division.
Team News
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Basaksehir will definitely be missing five players through injury on Tuesday, with Daniel Aleksic, Mahmut Tekdemir, Edgar le, Stefano Okaka and Partyk Szysz on the sidelines due to fitness issues.
Meanwhile, Eden Karzev is a major doubt due to a muscular problem, so it seems likely that six players will be absent for the home side in this contest.
Head coach Emre will have one eye on the Turkish Cup final, which could mean that the likes of Serdar Gurler and Deniz Turuc are given rests, in addition to Berkay Ozcan in midfield.
Trabzonspor also have a number of injury problems ahead of this match, with Marc Bartra, Maxi Gomez, Ugurcan Cakir, Jean-Philippe Gbamin, Yusuf Yazici and Stefano Denswil all set to miss out.
Anastasios Bakasetas and Trezeguet are the team's joint-leading goalscorers this season with 13 each, and the pair should again be in the starting side on Tuesday.
Umut Bozok has also had a productive campaign, finding the back of the net on 10 occasions, and the 26-year-old should lead the away side's line in this match.
Istanbul Basaksehir possible starting lineup:
Dilmen; Ozbayrakli, Touba, Shaocong, Erkin; Januzaj, Biglia, Aydogmus, Celik; Keny, Figueiredo
Trabzonspor possible starting lineup:
Tepe; Larsen, Turkmen, Altikardes, Elmali; Visca, Bakasetas, Siopis, Hamsik, Trezeguet; Bozok
We say: Istanbul Basaksehir 1-1 Trabzonspor
Trabzonspor's away form has been so poor this season, so it is tough to back them to win, even taking into account their excellent run of results. Basaksehir will have their eye on the cup final, but we are still expecting the hosts to be good enough to secure a share of the spoils on Tuesday.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Matt Law
