One of the fiercest Turkish Super Lig rivalries will take place on Sunday evening at Papara Park as Trabzonspor host Fenerbahce.
The hosts are coming into this match on the back of their first league defeat of the season, while the visitors are on a three-match unbeaten streak in the Super Lig.
Match preview
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Trabzonspor were one of the three undefeated teams in the Super Lig heading into the last matchday. However, they have since lost that status after a 2-1 away defeat to Goztepe.
The Black Sea Storm failed to capitalize on their one-man advantage from the 28th minute when Anthony Dennis was sent off, falling behind on the hour mark before equalizing two minutes later, only to concede again in stoppage time.
Senol Gunes's men have 12 points after nine matches and are currently in ninth place, eight points off the top four and 16 behind league leaders Galatasaray.
Trabzonspor will be back home this weekend against their arch-rivals, Fenerbahce, hoping to avoid back-to-back home defeats in this fixture after last season's 3-2 home loss, having last suffered such in 2016.
The Black Sea Storm have been solid on home soil this season, following draws in their opening two home matches with wins in their recent two, and the last time they won three consecutive home matches was at the tail end of the previous season.
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Fenerbahce returned to winning ways in their last league match with a 2-0 victory over newly promoted Bodrumspor at Sukru Saracoglu Stadium last Sunday.
The Yellow Canaries are already significantly behind in the title race, having already drawn two and lost one of nine matches so far, which leaves them eight points behind table-topping Galatasaray who have played one extra game.
Jose Mourinho knows his side must be almost perfect to catch up with Gala who are unbeaten and have dropped points in just one game, which is why the 19-time Super Lig winners must return to winning ways on the road this weekend.
However, the Yellow Canaries have struggled in high-stakes matches so far, losing to Gala and settling for a draw with Samsunspor, which is why Sunday's match looks like a potential banana skin for the visitors.
A draw, which would not be a bad result on its own, might be devastating for Fenerbahce given the context of what they are trying to achieve, especially as the visitors drew their last away game against Samsunspor, after winning their opening three matches on the road.
Team News
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Trabzonspor will remain without Serkan Asan, who is out with a knee injury, while Serdar Saatci is also sidelined with a knee issue.
Simon Banza scored his fourth league goal of the season from the spot last time out, and the striker will be hoping to add to his team-leading tally on Sunday.
Fenerbahce's Jayden Oosterwolde is ruled out for up to five months with a cruciate ligament injury he sustained in the draw against Samsunspor.
Turkish winger Cengiz Under is also sidelined with a groin injury that is expected to keep him out until the middle of this month.
Trabzonspor possible starting lineup:
Cakir; Malheiro, Mendy, Lundstram, Elmali; Yokuslu, Tufan; Visca, Bardhi, Dragus; Banza
Fenerbahce possible starting lineup:
Livakovic; Osayi, Djiku, Becao, Kostic; Amrabat, Kahveci, Yuksek, Saint-Maximin; En-Nesyri, Dzeko
We say: Trabzonspor 1-2 Fenerbahce
Trabzonspor have shown a lot of defensive resilience this season but have struggled in attack, and they are coming up against a Fenerbahce side that has the joint-second-best attack and defence in the league, which is why we think the visitors will edge this clash.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
