With little time left to avoid relegation from the Turkish Super Lig, Hatayspor will visit the Kalyon Stadyumu on Sunday afternoon to face off against Gaziantep.
The home side, meanwhile, are faced with the near insurmountable task of qualifying for Europe and will most likely have to make do with a place in the top half.
Match preview
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Gaziantep have had issues with consistency all season long, and their form over the most recent two matches is another indication of an issue that has lingered over the course of the current campaign.
Selcuk Inan‘s men emerged victorious from each of their opening three games in March by a combined score of 6-2 but have managed just one point from the subsequent six available following Monday’s 1-1 draw against Goztepe.
While the Falcons have every right to feel hard done given the timing of Kubilay Kanatsizkus‘s equaliser, they were perhaps a tad lucky to be ahead up until that point, having been under the cosh for large spells of the contest.
Without a shadow of a doubt, Gaziantep have enjoyed a more successful season than last time out, where they courted relegation until the final knockings, but it seems the Anatolians will once again fall short in their pursuit for continental football.
For now, though, the focus will be on securing a return to winning ways as Gaziantep look to exact revenge for a 3-1 defeat at the hands of Sunday’s opponents in November’s largely one-sided reverse fixture.
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Hatayspor’s exit from the top flight has drawn increasingly closer over the last couple of months, and a narrow 1-0 defeat to Eyupspor at Mersin Stadyumu on Sunday night might have just been the final nail in the coffin.
Still evidently discombobulated by a 5-0 thrashing against Kayserispor in the week prior, Murat Sahin‘s men somehow found a way to put up a good fight against their Istanbul counterparts, who, however, still managed to get the job done thanks to Mame Thiam‘s strike midway through the first half.
Now 14 points adrift of safety with eight matches left to play, the Stars of the South will need to pull off one of the biggest miracles in Turkish football history to avoid going down and prolong their five-year stay amongst the elite.
Hatayspor still have daunting assignments against three of the current top six sides to navigate, and they boast only a slim chance of leapfrogging Alanyaspor in 17th, let alone moving out of the bottom four entirely.
Goals have been hard to come by for Sunday’s visitors this term, with their three against the hosts in the reverse fixture accounting for just over 10% of a meagre tally of 29 goals scored across 28 league outings.
Team News
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Kacper Kozlowski and Christopher Lungoyi will both serve a suspension here due to an accumulation of yellow cards, making them unavailable for Gaziantep.
Long-term absentee Godfrey Stephen will also not play any part this weekend as he continues to nurse a leg injury that has seen him feature just two times since the start of the season.
Massanga Matondo (suspension) and Lamine Diack (knee) are Hatayspor’s only confirmed absentees for this one, with the latter still awaiting a first outing in three months.
Midfielder Abdulkadir Parmak is eligible to return to action after serving a one-game ban and should come into the starting XI for the suspended Matondo.
Vincent Aboubakar has now gone six matches without finding the back of the net for the away side, but the Cameroonian is expected to lead the line nonetheless.
Gaziantep possible starting lineup:
Bozan; Husic, Guler, Kizildag, Sorescu; Ozcicek, Maxim, Daubin; Boateng, Okereke, Dervisoglu
Hatayspor possible starting lineup:
Bekaj; Sertel, Yilmaz, Kilama, Alici; Saglam, Parmak; Bamgboye, Fernandes, Boutobba; Aboubakar
We say: Gaziantep 2-0 Hatayspor
Hatayspor have endured an abysmal campaign which is all but set to end in relegation, and Gaziantep are huge favourites to come away with maximum points here.
We fully expect the home side to rise up to the occasion and emerge victorious in the end.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
