Giresunspor are faced with the difficult challenge of travelling to face Turkish Super Lig leaders Trabzonspor on Wednesday, with the home team still holding an unbeaten record on their own patch this season.
Trabzonspor extended their lead at the top to 11 points on the weekend after second-placed Konyaspor did not play, while Giresunspor are currently sitting 14th and only four points above the relegation zone.
Match preview
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The table toppers have been in fine form in front of goal during this campaign, netting 38 times in 21 matches, but just two goals in their last three league matches is the lowest total across that many consecutive games that they have recorded so far.
Trabzonspor were held to a 1-1 draw against Sivasspor last time out, with Abdulkadir Omur equalising for Abdullah Avci's side, who struggled to register many shots on target in that encounter.
Their lower than usual firing rate in front of goal is unlikely to concern Avci as his side are still picking up points, and they have put themselves in such a strong position at the top of the table, Trabzonspor only need to keep doing what they're doing and the Super Lig title will be theirs.
Looking ahead to Wednesday's outing, Trabzonspor will be confident about keeping another clean sheet at the Medical Park Stadyumu, having kept six consecutive clean sheets on their own patch in all competitions.
Avci will be looking for his side to complete the double over Giresunspor this week, having come out as 1-0 winners when these two teams last met at the end of August, thanks to Anthony Nwakaeme's seventh-minute strike.
Giresunspor are unlikely to be confident of getting their revenge on the league leaders, entering this match in poor form having lost five of their last seven games in all competitions.
Hakan Keles's side allowed Kasimpasa to move closer to them in the table last time out, losing 2-0 against the 17th-placed side and missing their opportunity to open up a 10-point gap between themselves and the relegation zone.
With the home side being strong favourites for this encounter, Giresunspor must be careful not to end up just one point above 17th spot by the end of gameweek 22 in the Super Lig, by failing to pick up points on Wednesday.
They will take confidence from their last away game which came against struggling Turkish giants Galatasaray, and Giresunspor collected three points thanks to Magomed Suleymanov's 11th-minute strike.
Trabzonspor are expected to be a tougher opposition than any of the other teams Giresunspor have faced this season, and the visitors will know that so should prepare to endure long periods of pressure, looking to hit their hosts on the counter attack.
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Team News
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Djaniny will remain absent from Trabzonspor's squad as he is currently away on international duty in the Africa Cup of Nations, while new signing Jean Kouassi is also at that competition with Ivory Coast.
The hosts are also without Nwakaeme and Manolis Siopis due to coronavirus and Gervinho has been ruled out for the season after picking up a cruciate ligament injury in October.
Left-back Anders Trondsen is sidelined due to injury and is not expected to return until next month, but Stefano Denswil, who is on loan from Bologna, will continue in the full-back role.
Souleymane Doukara and Hamidou Traore are key figures that have been missing for Giresunspor during their last few games, with the duo currently away on international duty in the Africa Cup of Nations.
Erol Akdag will remain sidelined for the rest of the season, while left-back Emre Tasdemir is expected to return to fitness in the next few weeks but will not be ready to play on Wednesday.
Midfielder Joey Pelupessy cannot feature for Giresunspor this week after being shown a straight red card last time out, so Flavio may drop into the deeper midfield role while Fousseni Diabate and Zeki Yavru operate in more attacking positions.
Trabzonspor possible starting lineup:
Cakir; Denswil, Hugo, Turkmen, Peres; Hamsik, Tokoz; Omur, Bakasetas, Visca; Cornelius
Giresunspor possible starting lineup:
Kocuk; Behich, Perez, Diarra, Bilazer; Flavio; Serginho, Yavru, Diabate, Suleymanov; Balde
We say: Trabzonspor 2-0 Giresunspor
Trabzonspor are strong favourites for this encounter given their good form and Giresunspor's poor record recently, and having kept many clean sheets at home in their last few games, the hosts should add another to their collection on Wednesday.
With that strong defensive platform that will allow Trabzonspor to flow forward and create many chances in front of goal and the league's top goalscorers should then be backed to finish some of those chances.
Top tip
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 70.22%. A draw had a probability of 18.4% and a win for Giresunspor had a probability of 11.35%.
The most likely scoreline for a Trabzonspor win was 2-0 with a probability of 12.88%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-0 (11.9%) and 2-1 (9.48%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (8.76%), while for a Giresunspor win it was 0-1 (4.05%). The actual scoreline of 1-1 was predicted with an 8.8% likelihood.
