In their bid to end a 16-game league winless run, Yeni Malatyaspor face the tough test of a trip to Hatayspor on Sunday.
Amidst a difficult campaign, the visitors find themselves stranded at the foot of the Turkish Super Lig table, while their hosts dropped to eighth spot after a defeat of their own last time out.
Match preview
Thanks to a strong first half to their season, Hatayspor established themselves in the race for the top six in Turkey's top flight, boasting 35 points from their opening 21 outings.
However, Guneyin Yildizi have hit a more difficult spell recently, winning just one of their last five league games and earning a disappointing tally of four points to drop down to eighth place.
Before that solitary victory, they suffered a 6-0 thrashing at the hands of Alanyaspor and a 4-3 defeat to Kayserispor either side of a stalemate with strugglers Caykur Rizespor.
Omer Erdogan's side then made a crucial return to winning ways, defeating Goztepe 2-1 thanks to goals from Mame Biram Diouf and Ayoub El Kaabi, before facing the tough test of a clash with Fenerbahce last time out.
Serdar Dursun condemned them to a 2-0 defeat with a brace, leaving Hatayspor in eighth spot, although, with sixth-placed Besiktas only two points ahead, they can quickly improve their position with a victory at the weekend.
They will fancy their chances too, as basement side Yeni Malatyaspor arrive in the midst of a 14-game league winless run.
Sunday's visitors comfortably avoided relegation last season, but they have found the new campaign far more difficult, with just four victories and 17 points to their name from their 26 games.
They now have to go back to October for their last top-flight victory, having earned just five points since then, with former boss Marius Sumudica leaving in February as a result.
Veteran striker Adem Buyuk then stepped up to take control of the side, and, after three straight defeats, they added a point to their tally with a commendable goalless draw away at 10th-placed Gaziantep last time out.
With a 10-point gap to bridge to safety in the final 12 games of the season, Yeni Malatyaspor may feel that it is too late for them to avoid the drop, but Buyuk's side will still hope to stop the rot with a victory to lift the mood in the camp on Sunday.
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Team News
Hatayspor have an unenviable list of absentees to deal with, as Burak Camoglu, Burak Oksuz and Adama Noss Traore are ruled out through injuries, while key striker Mame Biram Diouf is also likely to miss out.
Centre-back Faith Kurucuk will serve a suspension, leaving Isaac Sackey and Simon Falette to partner up at the heart of the defensive line.
In the absence of Diouf, Ayoub El Kaabi should be relied upon to lead the attack, having netted nine goals in 20 league appearances this term.
The visitors are also without several players, as Mounir Chouiar, Benjamin Tetteh and Stephen Mallan are out injured while Sadik Ciftpinar is suspended.
While he is named as a player-manager, Adem Buyuk did not feature in the squad last time out, despite the 34-year-old having hit five league goals this season.
Hatayspor possible starting lineup:
Mohamedi; Corekci, Sackey, Falette, Adekugbe; Ergun, Mert; Saint-Louis, Benzia, Lobzhanidze; El Kaabi
Yeni Malatyaspor possible starting lineup:
Ozbir; Zeffane, Campi, Nshimirmana, Haddadi; Donsah, Okechukwu; Eskihellac, Ozer, Cagiran; Dicko
We say: Hatayspor 2-1 Yeni Malatyaspor
The basement side battled bravely to earn an away draw last time out, but we do not see the same happening again on Sunday.
Hatayspor boast a superior squad, and with the addition of home advantage, they should have more than enough to make a return to winning ways.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Hatayspor win with a probability of 61.94%. A draw had a probability of 22.1% and a win for Yeni Malatyaspor had a probability of 15.97%.
The most likely scoreline for a Hatayspor win was 1-0 with a probability of 12.81%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (11.89%) and 2-1 (9.72%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (10.47%), while for a Yeni Malatyaspor win it was 0-1 (5.64%). The actual scoreline of 5-2 was predicted with a 0.4% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole and our data analysis both correctly predicted that Hatayspor would win this match.
