Two sides that have endured mixed starts to the Turkish Super Lig season will face off on Monday evening when Trabzonspor takes on Alanyaspor at Papara Park.
The hosts are currently in eighth place in the league standings with 12 points, while the visitors are 11th and on 10 points after the first eight league matches.
Match preview
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Since their remarkable title success in the 2021-22 season, Trabzonspor have fallen off notably, missing out on the European competition spots last season and already four points behind the top four this season, just eight games in.
The Burgundy Blues have won four and lost four this season, with their last match ending in a 1-0 defeat to Adana Demirspor just before the international break, with Nani scoring the only goal of the match in the first half.
While their record this season has been average at best, the major strength of Nenad Bjelica's side has been their home form, with three wins in four this term, while they also went unbeaten in their last four matches last season, which included a 5-1 win over this opponent back in June.
Of Trabzonspor's 15 goals this season, which is the fourth-best tally in the top flight, eight came at Papara Park, while they have only conceded four, and they will fancy their chances against an Alanyaspor side that shipped four in their last match on the road to Adana Demirspor.
Meanwhile, the last few years have been a rollercoaster for Alanyaspor, who finished the 2021-22 season in fifth place and followed that up by barely missing relegation last term when they finished just one point above the drop.
This season has been another mixed bag for Omer Erdogan's side, who have taken 10 points in their first eight, with the last match ending in a 2-1 victory over Fatih Karagumruk before the international break.
Carlos Eduardo and Oguz Aydin were the players on the scoresheet, and despite Guven Yalcin pulling one back late, Trabzonspor managed to hold on to secure their second win of the season, snapping up a six-match winless run in the process.
However, the visitors will now be faced with a tougher assignment, as their away record has been very poor, recording just three wins across the whole of last season and none as yet this term after their first three on the road.
Team News
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Bjelica is without the services of ex-Arsenal player Nicolas Pepe (hamstring) and fellow attacker Mislav Orsic, which should mean that Paul Onuachu and Anastasios Bakasetas will make up the attacking duo.
In defence, Huseyin Turkmen is still recovering from a hamstring injury, and he will be joined on the sideline by Joaquin Fernandez, who is yet to feature this season due to an injury to his leg.
Erdogan has a bit of a defensive headache for this match, with centre-back Furkan Bayir and full-back Yusuf Ozdemir both suspended due to an accumulation of yellow cards.
Fidan Aliti is the most likely to get the nod in central defence, and Nuno Lima should fill in for Ozdemir, while Anderson will be hoping for a starting role after coming off the bench against Fatih Karagumruk last week.
Trabzonspor possible starting lineup:
Cakir; Larsen, Baniya, Denswil, Elmali; Ozdemir, Bardhi, Fountas, Bakasetas, Visca; Onuachu
Alanyaspor possible starting lineup:
Taskiran; Augusto, Aliti, Aksoy, Lima; Karaca, Coelho, Novais, Aydin; Eduardo, Cordova
We say: Trabzonspor 3-1 Alanyaspor
While Trabzonspor's overall record this season has been nothing special, they are a much better team on their home patch, as they showed by beating Besiktas 3-0 here last month. The visitors will come into this match with confidence, having ended a six-match winless run, but we feel they will suffer defeat in this one.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Devesh Jaganath
