Round 19 of the 2023-24 Turkish Super Lig season sees Samsunspor welcome Fatih Karagumruk to the Samsun 19 Mayis Stadyumu on Saturday evening.
Both teams head into this one off the back of respective defeats last time out and will be looking to bounce back with all three points this weekend.
Match preview
Samsunspor fell to a disappointing 3-1 loss against Alanyaspor when the teams went head-to-head at Kirbiyik Holding Stadyumu on Christmas Day.
Markus Gisdol's men went into the interval down by two following strikes from Yusuf Ozdemir and Oguz Aydin but managed to pull one back through Marius before Nicolas Janvier sealed the deal in second-half stoppage time.
Consequently, the Red Lightnings have dropped to 12th place in the Turkish Super Lig table and are now just three points clear of relegation danger.
Lying in store next is the challenge of an opposing outfit who have been beaten in two of the previous three editions of this fixture across all competitions.
Unbeaten in six of their last seven matches on home turf, Saturday's hosts will be confident of picking up another positive result in front of their fans.
Fatih Karagumruk were beaten for a third game running in a 3-0 defeat to Gaziantep at the Ataturk Olimpiyat Stadyumu on December 23.
Shota Arveladze's men trailed to Denis Dragus's opener just shy of the half-hour mark, after which Max Gradel and Nicolas N'Koulou netted in the second period to put the result beyond doubt.
With 17 points amassed from as many league outings so far, the Black and Red sit 17th in the standings, albeit only one point adrift of safety.
Having come out on top in just one of their last eight matches on the road leading up to Saturday's contest, the visitors will be keen to turn their away fortunes around.
Team News
Samsunspor's Nanu is ruled out of this weekend's contest as the defender prepares to sit out a fifth game on the bounce due to a muscle injury.
The hosts will also have to make do with the absence of Gaetan Laura and Zeki Yavru, although the former is closing in on a return to action.
First-choice goalkeeper Matias Dituro remains sidelined for Karagumruk through a muscle problem, while Stefano Sturaro misses out with a knock.
Sofiane Feghouli has been called up by Algeria for the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations, meaning that the 34-year-old is unavailable for the away side.
Samsunspor possible starting lineup:
Kocuk; Gonul, Ozturk, Satka, Cift; Tait, Ait Bennasser; Kilinc, Holse, Kara; Marius
Fatih Karagumruk possible starting lineup:
Bilgin; Veseli, Dresevic, Ceccherini, Mercan; Rohden, Shukurov; Keles, Eysseric, Lasagna; Yalcin
We say: Samsunspor 1-0 Fatih Karagumruk
Both teams have struggled for goals so far, and we are anticipating a low-scoring affair here. That said, we just about fancy the hosts to secure maximum points in the end.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
