Yeni Malatyaspor are aiming to pull away from the relegation zone by collecting three points on Saturday, when 10th-placed Istanbul Basaksehir travel to the Malatya Stadium.
After a poor start to this season, the visitors will be looking to extend their winning run to four games with victory on the weekend, and potentially close in on the top four in the Turkish Super Lig.
Match preview
The home side could not extend their unbeaten run to three games last time out, as they fell to a 2-0 defeat against Kasimpasa after recording their second set of back-to-back wins in this campaign.
That defeat for Marius Sumudica's team allowed Kasimpasa to climb to within three points of them, leaving Malatyaspor in danger of dropping into the relegation zone with another loss on Saturday.
Apart from bottom-placed Caykur Rizespor, Yeni Malatyaspor have conceded the most goals this season, allowing 19 strikes to find the back of the net in 11 Super Lig outings.
However, Saturday could present a good opportunity for the hosts to halt that stat for the time being, as Istanbul Basaksehir have lost four out of their five games on the road this campaign.
The away side are expected to dominate possession of the ball this weekend, as Basaksehir have averaged over 55% possession in their league outings, while Malatyaspor have averaged the least amount of possession in Turkey, seeing the ball just 43% of the time.
After beating Super Lig giants Besiktas in the middle of October, that victory has boosted Istanbul Basaksehir, as they went on to win their next two matches also.
Last time out, Emre Belozoglu's side defeated Adana Demirspor by the scoreline of 2-1, and the home team were made to work for their three points as they had to turn around a 1-0 deficit in the second half.
Nacer Chadli started the comeback when he equalised in the 71st minute, but Basaksehir had to wait until two minutes into stoppage time for Edin Visca to complete the turnaround from the penalty spot.
That game was unlikely to end in a draw, with Belozoglu's side having not drawn a single league match this season, winning five and losing six of their first 11 outings.
Basaksehir earned their first away win of the season two games ago, and that may have given them the boost they needed to kick start their season on the road, so only winning once out of five away games may not faze the visitors.
- L
- L
- L
- W
- W
- L
- L
- W
- L
- W
- W
- W
Team News
Yeni centre-back Sadik Ciftpinar has not featured for the side since 16 October and he will continue to be absent from the matchday squad as he recovers from a muscle injury.
Sumudica named an unchanged lineup last time out and if the manager was to do so again, that would mean that Benjamin Tetteh and Adem Buyuk would lead the line of a 3-5-2 formation.
Tetteh and Buyuk have been Malatyaspor's biggest source of goals this season, but the hosts will also be looking to Rayane Aabid to create attacking scenarios from midfield.
Hasan Ali Kaldirim and Omer Ali Sahiner came into Istanbul's side in place of full-backs Lima and Junior Caicara last time out, and the same back four which started against Demirspor are expected to retain their spots this weekend.
The visitors will lineup in a 4-1-4-1 formation, with Tolga Cigerci sitting in midfield, just in front of the defensive four, while Berkay Ozcan and Mahmut Tekdemir offer a more attacking threat from the middle of the pitch.
Yeni Malatyaspor possible starting lineup:
Ozbir; Kaya, Haddadi, Wallace; Hafez, Chouiar, Ndong, Aabid, Eskihellac; Tetteh, Buyuk
Istanbul Basaksehir possible starting lineup:
Babacan; Kaldirim, Epureanu, Ndayishimiye, Sahiner; Cigerci; Chadli, Ozcan, Tekdemir, Visca; Chuka
We say: Yeni Malatyaspor 1-2 Istanbul Basaksehir
Istanbul Basaksehir have not kept a clean sheet in their current three-game winning streak, which suggests that there is an opportunity for the hosts to get on the scoresheet.
However, it is unlikely that Yeni Malatyaspor are going to be able to stop the visitors' winning run as they have shown signs of weakness, in particular in their last game when they lost to a fellow relegation-threatened side.
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 Istanbul Basaksehir win with a probability of 48.3%. A draw had a probability of 26.3% and a win for Yeni Malatyaspor had a probability of 25.36%.
The most likely scoreline for a Istanbul Basaksehir win was 0-1 with a probability of 12.62%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-2 (9.26%) and 1-2 (9.13%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (12.44%), while for a Yeni Malatyaspor win it was 1-0 (8.47%). The actual scoreline of 1-3 was predicted with a 4.5% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Istanbul Basaksehir would win this match.
