Sivasspor will be eager to claim a vital victory against Turkish Super Lig bottom side Adana Demirspor as they continue their battle to retain top-flight status next season.
The Sivas-based club sit in the bottom four, three points adrift of safety with just nine matches remaining.
Match preview
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Veteran manager Riza Calimbay is aiming to orchestrate a successful survival campaign in his third spell at the club, but his side failed to build on their positive start after his arrival.
A promising first game under Calimbay saw Sivasspor claim a 3-1 victory over Goztepe in his first match in charge, but despite creating more opportunities and playing with a numerical advantage from the 78th minute, they fell to a disappointing 3-2 defeat away at Hatayspor just before the international break.
With Bodrumspor finding form, this kind of inconsistency leaves Sivasspor in real danger of finishing in the bottom four, having already slipped three points behind the survival pack, making every fixture crucial from now.
Adding to the pressure, fellow relegation battlers Kayserispor have played one game fewer yet are level on points with Sivasspor, and this means there is little margin for error, making a win against the struggling Adana Demirspor all the more essential.
The Braves secured a 4-2 victory in the reverse fixture earlier this season, ending a four-match winless run against Adana, and now have the chance to complete their first-ever top-flight double over the Blue Lightnings.
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Meanwhile, Adana Demirspor have had an extended break, having last played about three weeks ago in a 3-2 defeat at Samsunspor on March 9.
With relegation all but confirmed, the visitors are now in a position to experiment tactically, as seen in their previous outing when Manager Mustafa Avci deployed a 5-3-2 formation in that game, but despite scoring twice, his side conceded numerous chances.
This tactical unpredictability could make them difficult to prepare for, potentially boosting their chances of securing a positive result in games between now and the end of the season.
Although Adana have shown signs of improvement, they remain a ‘nearly team’, drawing two of their last four matches while narrowly losing the other two by 3-2 scorelines.
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Team News
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Sivasspor will be without key first-team players Noah Sonko Sundberg and Fode Koita due to injury, meaning Emirhan Basyigit and Veljko Simic could be drafted into the starting XI.
Samba Camara and Emrah Bassan, both of whom are fringe players, are also sidelined, but Ziya Erdal has completed his suspension and is expected to return to the line-up.
Adana Demirspor will be missing Abdulsamet Burak, who is suspended after accumulating too many yellow cards.
Izzet Celik remains out through injury, which could see Salih Kavrazli take over at right wing-back, should Avci persist with the 5-3-2 system from their last match.
Sivasspor possible starting lineup:
Vural; Ciftci, Basyigit, Radakovic, Paluli; Moutoussamy, Charisis; Rodrigues, Bekiroglu, Simic; Manaj
Adana Demirspor possible starting lineup:
Karakus; Kavrazli, Ersoy, Kalender, Kurtulan, Balat; Maestro, Aydogan, Aktas; Aymbetov, Barasi
We say: Sivasspor 2-1 Adana Demirspor
Adana conceded numerous chances in their narrow defeat to Samsunspor and could have been beaten by a greater margin on another day, and while Sivasspor’s last loss was largely down to wasteful finishing, they are expected to create ample opportunities here and convert them more effectively to claim all three points.
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