Konayaspor and Trabzonspor put their unbeaten records on the line when they meet in Super Lig on Thursday afternoon.
While the visitors currently hold a slender advantage over their hosts, Konyaspor will move ahead of their opponents with victory at the Konya Buyuksehir Stadium.
Match preview
© Reuters
Having missed out on Europa Conference League football courtesy of defeat to Roma, Trabzonspor boss Abdullah Avci was under pressure to lift his squad for a return to league action.
However, seven points have been recorded from a possible nine since the setback on the continent, 1-0 away wins coming either side of a 2-2 draw with Galatasaray.
Even though the goals have started to dry up since the opening weeks of the season, Avci will be delighted with consecutive clean sheets on the road.
Fixtures with Fenerbahce and leaders Besiktas are not too far down the league schedule, but Trabzonspor's focus will be on remaining in the top two of the table.
Greek playmaker Anastasios Bakasetas has been in outstanding form of late, contributing a goal or assist in five of his last six matches for club or country.
Konyaspor have been the surprise package in Super Lig thus far, building on last season's 11th-placed finish to go unbeaten through five outings.
Their toughest game on paper has been against struggling giants Istanbul Basaksehir, while they were held to a goalless draw by winless Giresunspor last time out.
Nevertheless, Ilhan Palut will have few complaints with 11 points from five matches, conceding just three goals in the process.
Tougher tests are to come for Anadolu Kartali, but another victory on Thursday afternoon would keep the dream of a shock title challenge alive in the short term.
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Team News
Palut will give consideration to making changes in attack after Konyaspor failed to score in their last match.
Paul-Jose M'Poku could be given an opportunity on the right flank, replacing Konrad Michalak who is yet to make an impact this season.
Serdar Gurder is likely to deputise on the opposite side of the pitch with Zymer Bytyqi still on the sidelines.
Avci may select the same Trabzonspor side which edged out Kasimpasa last time out, a decision which would see Gervinho named on the substitutes bench.
Abdulkadir Parmak misses out after lasting just four minutes as a replacement during the most recent fixture.
Konyaspor possible starting lineup:
Sehic; Skubic, Calik, Bardakci, Guilherme; M'Poku, Dikmen, Hadziahmetovic, Cekici, Gurler; Cikalleshi
Trabzonspor possible starting lineup:
Cakir; Peres, Hugo, Ie, Denswil; Omur, Hamsik, Ozdemir, Bakasetas, Nwakaeme; Cornelius
We say: Konyaspor 1-2 Trabzonspor
Given their marginally better defensive record, Konyaspor will fancy their chances of pulling off the upset. However, Trabzonspor's extra quality at the other end of the pitch could prove to be the difference, leading us to predict a narrow win for the visitors.
Top tip
Darren Plant
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 Trabzonspor win with a probability of 50.04%. A draw had a probability of 25.7% and a win for Konyaspor had a probability of 24.23%.
The most likely scoreline for a Trabzonspor win was 0-1 with a probability of 12.45%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-2 (9.52%) and 1-2 (9.32%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (12.19%), while for a Konyaspor win it was 1-0 (7.98%). The actual scoreline of 2-2 was predicted with a 4.6% likelihood.
