Preview: Antalyaspor vs. Sivasspor - prediction, team news, lineups

Fresh from a Turkish Cup quarter final victory, Sivasspor will turn their attention back to Super Lig action when they face Antalyaspor on Sunday.

The hosts, meanwhile, suffered cup elimination in midweek, but they are currently enjoying a five-match unbeaten league run.

Match preview

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Antalyaspor, who sit 14th place, could leapfrog their opponents with a victory on Sunday as they look to move away from the danger zone.

A goalless draw against Adana Demirspor last weekend left them five points clear of the drop zone with 11 league matches to play.

In midweek, they put their relegation battle on hold to face Trabzonspor in the Turkish Cup quarter finals, in a tricky contest against the Super Lig's runaway leaders.

Ultimately, it was a task that Antalyaspor could not successfully negotiate as goals from Edin Visca and Berat Ozdemir helped Trabzonspor to a 2-0 victory.

Nuri Sahin will now have to pick his players up as they bid to extend their unbeaten home run to eight league matches with a positive result on Sunday.

As for Sivasspor, they will be riding a crest of a wave after reaching the Turkish Cup semi-finals thanks to a 1-0 home victory over Fatih Karagumruk.

A cagey contest was decided by a single goal, with Mustafa Yatabare scoring the winner in the second half to help Sivasspor reach the last four of the cup for the first time since the 2014-15 campaign.

The cup run will go some way to making up for a disappointing league campaign, and although they enter the weekend seven points clear of the drop zone, Sunday's hosts cannot afford to rest on their laurels.

Having drawn more games (10) than any other side in the Turkish top flight, Sivasspor will be looking to avoid another drawn contest on Sunday.

Despite their cup success, Riza Calimbay will be disappointed with his side's poor league form, with his team winning just once in their previous seven league outings.

Team News

Ufuk Akyol, Harun Alpsoy and Andrea Poli are all expected to miss out for Antalyaspor due to injury issues.

Hakan Ozmert dropped down to the bench for the midweek cup fixture, but he is expected to replace Fredy in the starting lineup on Sunday.

Bunyamin Balci and Fedor Kudryashov are both likely to keep their places in the side after returning to the starting XI for the quarter final against Trabzonspor.

As for the visitors, Ahmet Oguz missed out with a thigh problem, while Leke James is a long-term absentee.

Calimbay made a number of changes for the cup fixture, and the Sivasspor boss is expected to revert to a more familiar backline for Sunday's contest, with Dimitrios Goutas, Caner Osmanpasa and Ugur Ciftci all set to return to the lineup.

Meanwhile, Yatabare will lead the line as he looks to score for a third consecutive game.

Antalyaspor possible starting lineup:
Sousa; Balci, Naldo, Kudryashov, Vural; Ozmert, Fernando; Ndao, Mehmedi, Sinik, Adriano

Sivasspor possible starting lineup:
Yildirim; Yesilyurt, Goutas, Osmanpasa, Ciftci; Henrique, Arslan, Cofie, Felix, Gradel; Yatabare

We say: Antalyaspor 2-1 Sivasspor

Despite losing in the cup, Antalyaspor have enjoyed a positive run of form in the league, while Sivasspor have lost their last two Super Lig matches.

With the two sides separated by just two points, we expect Sunday's contest to be close, but we think that the hosts will utilise home advantage to claim all three points.

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