Istanbulspor take on Gaziantep on Monday evening in a mid-season relegation six-pointer at the Esenyurt Necmi Kadioglu Stadium.
Fatih Tekke's side are languishing at the foot of the Turkish Super Lig standings, while The Falcons have struggled to catch their prey on their travels this season after only two victories in nine away matches.
Match preview
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In the wake of a return to the top tier of Turkish football for the first time since 2005 after victory over Bandirmaspor in the TFF 1. League playoff final on June 2, Istanbulspor have struggled to compete with the best that the country's footballing sphere has to offer.
Off the back of getting off to the winning mark at the fourth time of asking on August 27, Tekke's side assembled a hat-trick of unbeaten league matches to the jubilation of The Bulls supporters.
However, things began to go downhill for the Istanbul-based outfit in mid-October, after failing to register a victory for over two-and-a-half months.
The Bulls finally got back to winning ways in their final match of 2022, as Emir Gultekin's winner secured a much-needed 2-1 victory over Kasimpasa.
With three points finally in the bag, Tekke's newly-promoted side travelled to the New Adana Stadium to face Adana Demirspor on Thursday, knowing a point would lift them off the foot of the table. Although, things did not go to plan, as the Super Lig title challengers showed no mercy, showcasing six of the best to the dismay of the travelling Istanbulspor faithful.
With only three victories this season, Bulls supporters will hope that morale in the dressing room has not been dramatically diminished ahead of an arguable must-win match against prospective relegation rivals later on in the season.
Faring only slightly better than Istanbulspor, Gaziantep will hope to take full advantage of the worst home record across the 2022-23 campaign.
In need of an upgrade on their current run of form to avoid falling into a potential battle for survival later down the line, The Falcons performed admirably over the festive period.
Gaziantep began to show signs of improvement on Christmas Day as only Wout Weghorst's late equaliser denied Erol Bulut's side a famous victory over Besiktas.
However, following their notable point against one of the powerhouses in Turkish football, Gaziantep were brought back down to earth four days later as Riad Bajic's 95th-minute winner condemned the visitors to a 2-1 defeat at Giresunspor.
The Falcons rounded off their footballing festivities with a determined performance against Istanbul Basaksehir on Thursday, as Alexandru Maxim's last-gasp goal salvaged a share of the spoils.
Unbeaten across the last four head-to-heads across all formats, Gaziantep will hope their impressive recent historical record will again be an omen at the Esenyurt Necmi Kadioglu Stadium on Monday evening.
Team News
Following their humiliation against Adana Demirspor, Istanbulspor manager Fatih Tekke could make wholesale changes to his starting XI, with Jetmir Topalli, Ali Yasar, Oguzhan Berber and Mehmet Yesil all in line for potential recalls.
After scoring five goals this season, Valon Ethemi should take his place on the Bulls' team sheet, with the attacking mentality of the North Macedonia international expected to be Ibrahim Yilmaz and Topalli's main line of assistance from midfield.
In pursuit of adding to his tally of six league goals for Gaziantep, Ethemi's opposite number, Joao Figueiredo, will be confident of adding to his total against the most-exposed defence in the league, Istanbul having shipped 35 goals this term.
Joining the Brazilian striker in the final third will be the in-form Alexandru Maxim, who took his tally to five goals across all competitions for the season on Thursday.
Off the back of a point against European qualification candidates Istanbul Basaksehir, it is unlikely, barring any injuries, that Erol Bulut will want to make any alterations to his starting lineup.
Istanbulspor possible starting lineup:
Jensen; Dulhaney, Yesil, Ologo, Berber; Kabasakal, Ethemi, Rroca, Sarikaya; Topalli, Yilmaz
Gaziantep possible starting lineup:
Guvenc; Djilobodji, Ersoy, Pehlivan, Kitsiou; Merkel, Jevtovic, Hanousek, Markovic, Maxim; Figueiredo
We say: Istanbulspor 1-1 Gaziantep
On the back of registering their first league victory since the beginning of October to conclude 2022, we expect Istanbulspor to use their newly-found momentum to fight out a hard-fought share of the spoils against Gaziantep on Monday evening.
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