Two of the top five from last season's Super Lig do battle on Monday when Trabzonspor welcome Sivasspor to the Medical Park Arena.
With 71 points from 40 games, the hosts finished fourth in the 2020-21 campaign, one spot and six points above their visitors.
Match preview
Trabzonspor flew out of the blocks with a 5-1 victory over Yeni Malatyaspor in their opening league fixture on Monday.
Goals from Anastasios Bakasetas, Anthony Nwakaeme, Gervinho, Marek Hamsik and Djaniny secured an impressive win for Abdullah Avci's men.
Unsurprisingly, the Black Sea Storm lead the way after the first round of matches as a result of that resounding triumph.
Thier next assignment comes against an opposing side who have beaten them in just one of the last six encounters between the teams.
Monday's hosts have claimed wins in two of those clashes as the spoils have been shared on three occasions, including both of last season's meetings.
Sivasspor suffered a 1-0 defeat against Konyaspor on Monday to kick off their domestic campaign on the back foot.
The contest was decided two minutes from the end of regulation time through Sokol Cikalleshi's strike which sank Riza Calimbay's men.
While the Braves were still licking their wounds, a 2-1 defeat in the first-leg of the Conference League playoff followed.
Monday's visitors still have 90 minutes to redeem themselves, but in the meantime, avoiding a second consecutive league defeat is the task at hand.
- W
- D
- W
- D
- W
- W
- L
- L
- W
- W
- W
- W
- L
- L
Team News
Dorukhan Tokoz is ruled out for the home side due to a foot injury he sustained while on duty with the Turkey national team.
Abdullah Avci might contemplate making some alterations to his regular XI, with the likes of Andreas Cornelius pushing for a start.
Pedro Henrique is set to sit out a fifth game on the bounce for the visitors as he continues to battle with a shoulder problem.
Sivasspor will also be without the services of defenders Aaron Appidangoye and Dimitrios Goutas, who are both sidelined with muscle injuries.
Trabzonspor possible starting lineup:
Cakir; Koybasi, Hugo, Ie, Peres; Hamsik, Bakasetas, Ozdemir; Nwakaeme, Cornelius, Gervinho
Sivasspor possible starting lineup:
Vural; Ciftci, Osmanpasa, Altinay, Oguz; Arslan, Cofie, Fajr; Kayode, James, Gradel
We say: Trabzonspor 1-1 Sivasspor
The sides are closely matched and either could end up claiming all three points. However, they have proven to be inseparable over the course of the last two meetings, and we can see that trend continuing here.
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 Trabzonspor win with a probability of 46.46%. A win for Sivasspor had a probability of 29.36% and a draw had a probability of 24.2%.
The most likely scoreline for a Trabzonspor win was 2-1 with a probability of 9.34%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-0 (8.92%) and 2-0 (7.37%). The likeliest Sivasspor win was 1-2 (7.16%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (11.29%). The actual scoreline of 2-1 was predicted with a 9.3% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted a 2-1 win for Trabzonspor in this match.
Germany
Hungary
Scotland
Switzerland
Albania
Croatia
Italy
Spain
Denmark
England
Serbia
Slovenia
Austria
France
Netherlands
Poland
Belgium
Romania
Slovakia
Ukraine
Czech Republic
Georgia
Portugal
Turkey
