Besiktasvs.Fenerbahce

Meanwhile, the Yellow Canaries enter this game looking to extend their Super Lig winning streak to six matches.

Match preview

Besiktas have been struggling to win games for over a month, with the Europa League win over Malmo on November 6 being the only victory in their last seven matches across all competitions.

Despite the return of top scorer Ciro Immobile, the Black Eagles could not pick up a win against lowly-placed Hatayspor last time out, conceding first before the Italian striker restored parity for the game to end 1-1.

However, Giovanni van Bronckhorst's side climbed one spot to fifth place given the results of other teams around them, and they are just one point behind fourth-placed Eyupspor who have both played one extra game.

Besiktas will enter Saturday's Istanbul derby, hoping to end their poor run, but they lost both legs of this derby last season, and are at risk of losing three times in a row to the visitors since a run of six straight defeats between 2007 and 2009.

The Black Eagles, who have lost their last two home matches across all competitions, will be hoping to rediscover their home form, having picked up four of their six league wins in this campaign on home soil.

Jose Mourinho's Fenerbahce are flying at the moment, with Gaziantep becoming the latest victim of their top form after a 3-1 victory last Monday.

Fenerbahce, still in second place, made the most use of Galatasaray's draw against Eyupspor last time out, cutting the point between them and the league leaders to three.

The Yellow Canaries, who have scored 35 times and conceded 12 times in the top flight this season, now have the outright best attack and best defence in the Super Lig after 13 matches.

Mourinho will hope his side can continue in this vein when they visit Tupras Stadium on Saturday, and he will have every right to be confident given that his side have picked up the most points on the road in this campaign, and have not lost an away game.

Besiktas Turkish Super Lig form:

W

L

L

D

L

D

Besiktas form (all competitions):

L

W

D

L

L

D

Fenerbahce Turkish Super Lig form:

D

W

W

W

W

W

Fenerbahce form (all competitions):

L

W

W

W

W

W

Team News

Besiktas will head into this clash with two defenders missing; Gabriel Paulista who is out with a hamstring issue, and Felix Uduokhai, who is sidelined with an ankle injury.

Midfielder Necip Uysal is also confirmed out with a ligament injury that is expected to keep him out until the tail end of this month.

Immobile's goal against Hatayspor took him clear at the top of the Super Lig's scorer's chart, but he is only one ahead of Edin Dzeko who he will be going up against in this game.

Fenerbahce are set to remain without centre-back Caglar Soyuncu until the middle of December, while defender Jayden Oosterwolde will not return from injury this season.

Midfielder Mert Hakan Yandas is also ruled out, which means Ismail Yuksek and Fred will likely retain their spots as the double pivot.

Besiktas possible starting lineup:

Gunok; Svensson, Topcu, Sanuc, Masuaku; Ucan, Gedson Fernandes; Kilicsoy, Silva, Rashica; Immobile

Fenerbahce possible starting lineup:

Livakovic; Osayi-Samuel, Akaydın, Becao, Kostic; Yuksek, Fred; Tadic, Aydın, Kahveci; En-Nesyri

We say: Besiktas 1-2 Fenerbahce

Besiktas are low on confidence right now, struggling to pick up expected wins, which is why we believe that this clash will be too much for them to handle at this time and would be a win for Fenerbahce, given how well the visitors are playing at the moment.

Written by

Joshua Cole

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