Preview: Caykur Rizespor vs. Fatih Karagumruk - prediction, team news, lineups

The visitors, meanwhile, will be looking to make it three games without defeat after picking up four points from their last two matches.

Match preview

After returning to the top flight at the first time of asking, newly-promoted Rizespor have made a steady start to the 2023-24 campaign.

The season began with a narrow 2-1 defeat to Adana Demirspor, before they played out a goalless draw against Alanyaspor to get off the mark.

They seemingly took confidence from that result, as they went on to claim their first victory of the season in Saturday's away meeting with Trabzonspor.

Attila Mocsi's opener and a Benhur Keser brace helped secure a 3-2 victory, ensuring Rizespor will enter Friday's contest in a buoyant mood.

They will now turn their attention to their second home game of the new campaign, and after losing just one of their 17 home games in the second tier last term, they will be looking to transfer that impressive form into the top flight.

Like their hosts, Karagumruk bounced back from their opening-day defeat to pick up four points from their last two Turkish Super Lig games.

After being edged out by Besiktas on Matchday One, they got up and running with a 2-0 away victory over Istanbul Basaksehir.

They would have been targeting consecutive victories when they took a slender lead into half time of Sunday's home meeting with Ankaragucu thanks to Marcus Rohden's first goal for the club.

However, Efkan Bekiroglu's second-half equaliser ensured the two sides had to be content with a share of the spoils, leaving Karagumruk with just one point to show from their opening two home matches.

Having avoided defeat in their previous four meetings (W2, D2) with Rizesspor, Karagumruk will be confident of claiming another positive result on Friday.

Caykur Rizespor Turkish Super Lig form:

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D

W

Fatih Karagumruk Turkish Super Lig form:

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D

W

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W

D

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Team News

Rizespor summer signing Khusniddin Alikulov remains sidelined with a hamstring injury, which has kept him out of the last two games.

After claiming their first win of the season, Rizespor boss Ilhan Palut is likely to name an unchanged lineup for Friday's contest.

Fresh from opening his account for the season with a brace, Keser will be one of the home side's main goal threats.

As for the visitors, they have reported no injury concerns, leaving Alparslan Erdem with a full squad to choose from.

Serdar Dursun has recently returned for a second spell with the club and is set to feature among the substitutes after coming off the bench to make his second debut last weekend.

After recently joining the club, Flavio Paoletti and Kerem Atakan Kesgin are expected to be included in the Matchday squad for Friday's encounter.

Caykur Rizespor possible starting lineup:

Akkan; Sahin, Mocsi, Topcu, Pehlivan; Pala, Olawoyin; Sauer, Varesanovic, Zeqiri; Keser

Fatih Karagumruk possible starting lineup:

Dituro; Veseli, Ceccherini, Dresevic, Mercan; Feghouli, Ugur; Keles, Rohden, Mendes; Se. Dursun

We say: Caykur Rizespor 1-1 Fatih Karagumruk

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