Preview: Galatasaray vs. Giresunspor - prediction, team news, lineups

With both sides looking to bounce back from cup defeats last time out, Galatasaray welcome Giresunspor to the Nef Stadium on Sunday in their first outing of 2022.

The teams have also had an underwhelming first half of the current campaign and now set out to get their season back on track in the second half.

Match preview

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Galatasaray suffered a shock exit from the Turkish Cup following a penalty shootout defeat to 1.Lig outfit Denizlispor in the round of 32 two Tuesdays ago.

Fatih Terim's men were on course to progress as they led 3-2 heading into stoppage time after which Victor Nelsson put the ball past his own goalkeeper to send the game to penalties, where Ogulcan Caglayan's miss proved to be costly.

Prior to that, the Lions had only won one of their last eight league outings and are currently 10th in the Super Lig table, on course for their lowest league finish since the 2010-11 season.

The Istanbul-based club's next task sees them go up against an opposing side who they have beaten in each of the previous two meetings by a combined score of 7-0.

Unbeaten in seven of their nine home league games so far, Saturday's hosts are huge favourites to get the job done, and it remains to be seen whether they will live up to expectations.

Giresunspor were denied safe passage into the last 16 of the Turkish Cup following a 2-1 loss to Antalyaspor on December 28.

Hakan Keles's men went behind to Houssam Ghacha's opener just shy of the half-hour mark but drew level 10 minutes into the second half thanks to Umut Nayir, before Naldo grabbed a late winner to settle the contest.

The Cotanaklar are also on a two-game losing streak in the league which has seen them drop to 14th in the standings, although they are still five points clear of danger.

Saturday's visitors will know that things must improve going forward to avoid being drawn into a relegation scrap having only just gained promotion to the top flight this season.

Team News

Fernando Muslera and Arda Turan headline the list of absentees for Galatasaray as they remain sidelined with knee and ankle injuries respectively.

Sacha Boey, Mbaye Diagne, Christian Luyindama and Omar Elabdellaoui are also unavailable for this weekend's hosts due to injury, while Mostafa Mohamed and Sofiane Feghouli are away on international duty.

Giresunspor's Erol Akdag has missed his side's last six matches through a knee problem, and the Turkish midfielder will not play any part in this one.

Hakan Keles rang the changes for the cup tie last time out, but we expect him to field his strongest available XI this time around.

Galatasaray possible starting lineup:
Cipe; Van Aanholt, Marcao, Nelsson, Caglayan; Kara, Kutlu, Akturkoglu, Kilinc; Dervisoglu, Morutan

Giresunspor possible starting lineup:
Kocuk; Yavru, Diarra, Behich, Fontanilla; Flavio, Traore, Diabate; Balde, Serginho, Suleymanov

We say: Galatasaray 2-0 Giresunspor

Galatasaray have stuttered of late but should still have enough in the tank to see off the challenge of Giresunspor. We are tipping the home side to emerge triumphant at the end of the 90 minutes.

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