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

The away side, on the other hand, set out to end a run of five straight league losses and get their Turkish Super Lig season back on track.

Match preview

Caykur Rizespor were left red-faced as they fell to a 5-0 thrashing at the hands of Fenerbahce in Sunday's meeting at the Sukru Saracoglu Stadium.

Ilhan Palut's men conceded an early opener to Sebastian Szymanski before second-half goals from Irfan Can Kahveci, Edin Dzeko, Dusan Tadic and Joshua King sealed the deal.

Consequently, the Black Sea Sparrowhawks have dropped to eighth in the Turkish Super Lig table, albeit only two points adrift of the last European place.

Awaiting them next is the challenge of an opposing outfit who have only been beaten in one of the last eight editions of this fixture dating back to 2013.

Unbeaten in 15 straight home matches since the turn of the year, Sunday's hosts will back themselves to secure a positive result in front of their fans once again.

Samsunspor were a tad unfortunate to come away empty-handed from their encounter with Gaziantep, which ended in a narrow 2-1 defeat at Samsun 19 Mayis Stadyumu on Friday.

Emre Bayraktar's men found themselves down by two heading into the interval thanks to strikes from Denis Dragus and Marko Jevtovic before Olivier Ntcham pulled one back from the spot.

With just one point picked up from six league matches so far, the Red Lightning remain rooted to the bottom of the standings, five points from safety.

Having let in the second-most goals away from home in the division, Sunday's visitors simply cannot afford another defensive horror show if they are to avoid defeat this weekend.

Caykur Rizespor Turkish Super Lig form:

D

W

W

W

D

L

Samsunspor Turkish Super Lig form:

D

L

L

L

L

L

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Team News

Efe Tecimer remains sidelined for Rizespor due to a long-term knee problem, which has seen him fail to feature since the early exchanges of last season.

Moryke Fofana will be looking to deliver the goods once again, having grabbed the winning goal in the last meeting between Sunday's opponents.

Taylan Antalyali has missed Samsunspor's last three matches with a torn muscle, but the Turkey international is not far off a return to action.

The away side will also be without the services of 25-year-old defender Marc Bola, who is yet to fully recuperate from a niggling thigh injury.

Caykur Rizespor possible starting lineup:

Akkan; Sahin, Mocsi, Topcu, Hojer; Shelvey, Pala; Keser, Varesanovic, Gustavo; Minchev

Samsunspor possible starting lineup:

Kocuk; Gonul, Van Drongelen, Satka, Schindler; Fofana, Tait, Bennasser, Kilinc; Holse, Dimata

We say: Caykur Rizespor 2-0 Samsunspor

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