Preview: Besiktas vs. Altay - prediction, team news, lineups

Although Besiktas are unbeaten in their last six Super Lig games, they will look to end a run of three consecutive league draws when they play host to Altay on Saturday.

The visitors, meanwhile, are in a perilous position in the relegation zone with five points separating them from safety.

Match preview

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Besiktas enter the weekend in eighth place, and although they have lost once in their last 11 league matches, a habit of drawing games has stifled their league progress.

Although four of their last six league fixtures have ended all square, the Black Eagles are firmly in the hunt for a European place with two points separating them from the top four.

They looked set to claim all three points away to Adana Demirspor last time out after Alex Teixeira gave his side the lead, but a stoppage-time equaliser from Samet Akaydin denied Besiktas the victory.

With three of their last four league encounters taking place away from home, Besiktas will be grateful to return to home comforts on Saturday, with the hosts looking to extend their unbeaten home run to eight games in all competitions.

The Black Eagles will be confident that they can quell the attacking threat of Altay, with the hosts aiming to claim a third consecutive home clean sheet in the league.

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As for the visitors, their stay in the top flight looks set to be a short one as they sit five points adrift of safety with 13 games remaining.

They can take positives from the four points that they have collected from their last two games, which has renewed hopes that they can beat the drop.

A 2-0 away win against Goztepe ended a 16-game winless league run, and they followed that impressive result with a goalless draw at home to Rizespor last time out.

Altay have shown signs of improvement defensively after collecting consecutive clean sheets, and their backline will need to be at their very best if they are to restrict a Besiktas attack that has scored in 10 of their 12 home games this season.

The visitors will look to draw inspiration from the 2-1 victory that they achieved at home against Besiktas in September, although they did fall to a 1-0 Turkish Cup defeat against the Black Eagles in December.

Team News

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Despite serving his one-match suspension, Miralem Pjanic is unlikely to feature for the hosts on Saturday, with injury set to rule the former Juventus man out.

Ridvan Yilmaz and Cyle Larin picked up injuries against Adana Demirspor and the pair are also expected to miss Friday's contest.

Guven Yalcin could replace Michy Batshuayi upfront, with the Chelsea loanee suspended due to an accumulation of yellow cards.

As for the visitors, they are still missing Serge Aka, who remains an injury absentee.

Murat Akca will serve a one-match suspension for an accumulation of yellow cards, with Khaly Thiam set to replace the suspended man in the centre of defence.

Meanwhile, Deniz Kadah is expected to lead the line after starting Altay's last two matches.

Besiktas possible starting lineup:
Destanoglu; Kalafat, Welinton, Vida, Meras; Uysal, Hutchinson, Teixeira; Ghezzal, Karaman, Yalcin

Altay possible starting lineup:
Lis; Unlu, Bjorkander, Thiam, Ozkaya; Yildirim, Thaciano, Rodriguez; Kappel, Karatas, Kadah

We say: Besiktas 2-0 Altay

Altay have lost four of their last five away league games, and we think that they will come up short when they face a Besiktas side that have won eight of their 12 home league matches this season.

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