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

The home side are looking to make it six wins on the bounce across all competitions, while their visitors set out to record a fourth consecutive victory.

Match preview

Galatasaray resisted a late surge from newly-promoted Istanbulspor to secure a 2-1 hard-fought victory in Sunday's encounter at the Nef Stadium.

After taking a two-goal lead in the first half through Bafetimbi Gomis's double, Okan Buruk's men were in cruise control before Mehmet Yesil struck late on to set up a frenetic finale.

With 30 points amassed from their 14 matches so far, the Istanbul-based club now sit top of the Turkish Super Lig table, one point clear of city rivals Fenerbahce.

Having scored a whopping seven goals in their last outing on the road, Thursday's visitors will now aim to put on another attacking masterclass away from home.

Sivasspor picked up a first league win since October by seeing off the threat of Kasimpasa 2-1 when the teams faced off at the Recep Tayyip Erdogan Stadyumu on Saturday.

Riza Calimbay's men opened the scoring through Dia Saba but they were pegged back just before the break by Mortadha Ben Ouanes after which Max Gradel netted the winner 20 minutes into the second period.

As a result, The Braves have moved up to 16th place in the league standings and are now just one point away from safety, albeit having played a game more.

Lying in store next is the challenge of an opposing outfit with little to choose as the last 13 editions of this fixture have yielded five wins apiece for either side and three draws.

Off the back of three straight wins on home turf leading up to Thursday's contest, the home side will fancy themselves to emerge triumphant in front of their fans once more.

Sivasspor Turkish Super Lig form:

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L

L

L

D

W

Sivasspor form (all competitions):

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L

D

L

D

W

Galatasaray Turkish Super Lig form:

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D

W

W

W

W

Galatasaray form (all competitions):

W

L

D

L

W

W

Team News

Mauro Icardi continues his spell on the sidelines with a long-term muscle injury and he is not expected to play any part for Galatasaray in this one.

The away side side are also set to be without Mathias Ross and Yunus Akgun who are currently down with knee problems, while Emre Tasdemir also misses out.

With four goals in his most recent three games, Bafetimbi Gomis is on fire at the moment and the 37-year-old is certainly one to keep an eye on.

Leke James is unavailable for Sivasspor due to an ankle problem which has seen the Nigerian fail to feature since the second week of September.

Max Gradel came off the bench to good effect last time out and the midfielder could now be rewarded with a place in the starting lineup here.

Sivasspor possible starting lineup:

Vural; Camara, Goutas, Osmanpasa; Ciftci, Ulvestad, Yalcin, Gradel, Yesilyurt; Saba, Yatabare

Galatasaray possible starting lineup:

Kocuk; Boey, Nelsson, Bardakci, Karatas; Torreira, Midtsjo; Rashica, Mertens, Akturkoglu; Gomis

We say: Sivasspor 1-2 Galatasaray

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