Preview: Istanbul Basaksehir vs. Samsunspor - prediction, team news, lineups

In a congested mid-table, the home side will go into this match with 36 points after 27 league games, while the away team are on 33 points and looking to distance themselves from the sides in the relegation zone.

Match preview

Istanbul Basaksehir crashed out of the Turkish Cup on Wednesday following a 1-0 loss to Trabzonspor on Wednesday.

However, they return to league action this weekend, looking to build on the 2-0 victory over Gaziantep in their last league outing.

The Grey Owls had to deal with back-to-back defeats to Galatasaray and Kayserispor after recording consecutive league wins from late January to early February.

Cagdas Atan's side climbed to seventh place in the Super Lig table following their win, but they are 10 points off the last European spot, making it unlikely to make a charge at this stage of the season.

Having finished in fifth place last season, achieving something similar or better will be the goal for Basaksehir in this campaign.

The Grey Owls, who have picked up 20 points from a possible 39 at home this season, will be hoping to return to winning ways at the Basaksehir Fatih Terim Stadium when they host Samsunspor on Sunday.

They have historically dominated this fixture on home soil, winning three of their four home encounters against the Red Lightnings.

Samsunspor stretched their unbeaten run to three matches after picking up a 3-0 win against Caykur Rizespor last time out.

Rick van Drongelen, Carlo Holse and Olivier Ntcham were on the scoresheet for the Red Lightings who also kept their sixth clean sheet this season.

This result saw Markus Gisdol's side climb to 11th place on the table with 33 points, opening up a five-point gap between them and the first team in the relegation zone.

Samsunspor were on a four-match unbeaten run in the league prior to the Galatasaray defeat, and they will now look to replicate such a run having defeated Antalyaspor and Rizespor, while playing out a draw with Gaziantep in their last three matches.

However, their record on the road this season has been poor, picking up a meagre seven points from a possible 39, making them the third-worst away team in the league.

Istanbul Basaksehir Turkish Super Lig form:

L

W

W

L

L

W

Istanbul Basaksehir form (all competitions):

Samsunspor Turkish Super Lig form:

W

D

L

W

D

W

Samsunspor form(all competitions):

Team News

The hosts will line up without the duo of Patryk Szysz and Efe Arda Koyuncu, who are both nursing long term injuries.

Joao Figueiredo is also sidelined for this clash due to a one-match suspension for accumulated yellow cards.

Serdar Gurler should play from the start due to Figueiredo's suspension while Krzysztof Piatek continues to lead the line.

Samsunspor have a clean bill of health ahead of this fixture, leaving Gisdol with a wealth of options on Sunday.

Marius Mouandilmadji should continue to lead the attack as he looks to add to his seven goal tally in the league.

Istanbul Basaksehir possible starting lineup:

Babacan; Dubois, Opoku, Ba, Abeid; De Souza; Gurler, Kemen, Ozcan, Turuc; Piatek

Samsunspor possible starting lineup:

Kocuk; Yavru, Satka, Ozturk, Bola; Tait, Antalyali; Kilinc, Ntcham, Holse; Mouandilmadji

We say: Istanbul Basaksehir 1-1 Samsunspor

Istanbul Basaksehir returned to winning ways last time out, while Samsunspor are also on a three-match unbeaten streak. We think both teams will cancel each other out in this fixture, but we expect goals.

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