Trabzonspor and Alanyaspor draw the curtain on their 2022-23 Turkish Super Lig campaign when they square off at the Senol Gunes Stadium on Saturday.
Having stormed to the league crown last year, Nenad Bjelica's side have endured a woeful title defence but will be looking to end the season on a high.
Match preview
© Reuters
While Trabzonspor have finished in the upper echelons of the Super Lig for a better part of the last decade, no one associated with the club could have envisaged the manner in which they stormed to the title last season.
The Karadeniz Firtinasi picked up 23 wins and 12 draws to collect 81 points and claim their seventh league title with a healthy eight-point lead over runners-up Fenerbahce.
However, it has been an underwhelming title defence for Trabzonspor, who find themselves in fifth place and have picked up 54 points heading into the final game of the season.
The Trabzon outfit have lost 12 of their 34 matches so far — four times more than their total tally from last season — with only Kayserispor (15) suffering more defeats in the top half.
Bjelica's side were in action on Tuesday when they edged out Giresunspor 4-2 at the Giresun Ataturk Stadium to record successive victories for the first time since winning three in a row back in January.
Trabzonspor, who have now picked up three wins in four outings since the start of May, now return home, where they are currently on a three-match undefeated run, claiming seven points from the last nine available.
© Reuters
Alanyaspor, on the other hand, will have to settle for a bottom-half finish for the first time since finishing 12th in 2018 after what has been a forgettable domestic campaign.
The Alanya outfit have picked up 11 wins, eight draws and lost 16 of their 35 matches to collect 41 points and sit 11th in the league table, six points adrift of ninth-placed Fatih Karagumruk
Omer Erdogan's side were sent crashing back to earth last Tuesday when they fell to a 3-1 defeat against 10th-placed Kasimpasa at the Bahcesehir Okullari Stadium.
Prior to that, Alanyaspor cruised to a 4-0 victory over Kayserispor at the Kadir Has Stadium to snap their two-match losing streak and secure their first away win since their 4-2 win at Karagumruk in August's season opener.
They now end the season with a journey to the Senol Gunes Stadium, where they are unbeaten in five of their last six Super Lig visits, claiming three wins and two draws since February 2017.
Team News
© Reuters
Trabzonspor will take to the pitch without the Turkish midfield duo of Yusuf Yazici and Abdulkadir Parmak, who have been sidelined through knee injuries.
Former Bologna defender Stefano Denswil is also set to sit out his sixth consecutive game after coming off with a calf injury against Sivasspor on April 20.
As far as Alanyaspor are concerned, Joher Khadim Rassoul, Zinedine Ferhat and Efkan Bekiroglu will all play no part in this weekend's match as they continue their spells on the sidelines.
Ahmed Hassan, who is currently the club's leading scorer in the league with 10 goals under his belt, sustained a knee injury against Umraniyespor on April 28 and is also out of contention.
They are joined on the visitors' injury table by Belgian defender Yunus Bahadir, who continues his rehabilitation after suffering an ACL injury in October 2020.
Trabzonspor possible starting lineup:
Cakir; Larsen, Turkmen, Bartra, Elmali; Siopis, Bardhi; Visca, Bozok, Trezeguet; Bakasetas
Alanyaspor possible starting lineup:
Karagoz; Ozdemir, Bayir, Feddal, Aksoy; Doumbia, Fer; Candeias, Karaca, Aydin; Yardimci
We say: Trabzonspor 2-0 Alanyaspor
Trabzonspor will be licking their lips as they take on an out-of-sorts Alanyaspor side who have struggled on the road this season. Home advantage makes Bjelica's men huge favourites heading into the weekend and we are backing them to pick up all three points.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Joshua Ojele
