Preview: Konyaspor vs. Sivasspor - prediction, team news, lineups

The visitors, meanwhile, are aiming to move outside of the relegation places after enduring a difficult season so far.

Match preview

Having achieved their joint-highest ever finish of third in Turkey's top domestic division last season, Konyaspor have not quite kicked on as they may have hoped this time around.

Ilhan Palut, who previously managed Hatyaspor and Goztepe, has been left frustrated by his team's inability to turn draws into victories in recent outings, with an unbeaten run of five league games dampened by four of those matches ending in draws.

As such, the Anatolian Eagles head into Turkey's midweek round of fixtures five points adrift of the top three positions, with Palut desperate to see his side return to winning ways on Wednesday.

However, with their opponents fighting tooth and nail for every point at the bottom of the division, they are likely to require being close to their best in order to do so.

Indeed, the break for the World Cup probably came at a good time for Sivasspor, who had failed to win any of their four games before the domestic season was paused in November.

After bouncing back with a crucial 2-1 victory against potential relegation rivals Kasimpasa on Christmas Eve, the Braves fell to an unfortunate 2-1 defeat to league leaders Galatasaray on Thursday, with Baris Yilmaz sending the visiting supporters in delirium with an injury-time winner.

However, Riza Calimbay - who has been in charge of Sivasspor since June 2019, after enjoying a previous three-year spell with them between 2010 and 2013 - will have been encouraged by his side's resilience against their more illustrious opponents.

As such, they should head to Konya with renewed confidence in terms of claiming a positive result from the match, with victory potentially enough to move themselves above the dreaded dotted lines in the table.

Konyaspor Turkish Super Lig form:

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Sivasspor Turkish Super Lig form:

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Sivasspor form (all competitions):

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Team News

Konyaspor could be without Endri Cekici due to a hamstring injury, while Ogulcan Ulgun has been struck down by a virus.

Having had over a week's rest since their last match against Alanyaspor, Palut could name an unchanged XI after earning a 2-2 draw in that match.

Sivasspor, meanwhile, will travel without Erdogan Yesilyurt after the forward was sent off late on during his side's defeat to Galatasaray last time out.

Aaron Appindangoye, Max Gradel, Samba Camara and Leke James are all injury doubts for Calimbay's side, meanwhile, with former Tottenham Hotspur winger Clinton Njie perhaps in pole position to replace Yesilyurt on the visitors' left flank.

Konyaspor possible starting lineup:

Sehic; Oguz, Demirbag, Calvo, Guilherme; Michalak, Pavicic, Hadziahmetovic, Dikmen, Bytyqi; Demir

Sivasspor possible starting lineup:

Vural; Yalcin, Goutas, Osmanpasa, Ciftci; Saba, Keita, Ulvestad; Musa, Yatabare, Njie

We say: Konyaspor 1-1 Sivasspor

With Konyaspor routinely drawing games of late and Sivasspor appearing to have returned from the World Cup with renewed confidence, we can envisage a share of the spoils at the Konya Metropolitan Municipality Stadium on Wednesday.

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