Separated by just one point in the standings, Antalyaspor and Gaziantep will lock horns at the Antalya Stadium for the 36th instalment of their 2024-25 Turkish Super Lig campaign.
Both teams came away empty-handed from their most recent outings as the hosts fell to a 3-1 defeat versus Kayserispor, while the visitors were defeated by Alanyaspor.
Match preview
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Antalyaspor saw their away woes continue following a disappointing loss to Kayserispor on Monday, which extended their run of matches on the road without a victory to seven, dating back to a thrilling 3-2 win over Hatayspor at the start of February.
Emre Belozoglu's men had narrowly beaten Konyaspor 1-0 in the game prior and had the opportunity to move level on points with eighth-place Konyaspor as they target a first top-seven finish since 2017.
Instead, the Scorpions remain 12th, having picked up 43 points from 33 matches, needing six more points from the final nine available to equal last season's tally of 49, which would have looked somewhat improbable after they kicked off the campaign with eight points from their opening nine matches.
Nonetheless, Antalyaspor will know they have significant room for improvement going forward, as their tally of 36 goals scored ranks bottom in the league barring teams facing relegation, while their 58 goals conceded at the other end also lead the way.
Perhaps their biggest silver lining this term, Sunday's hosts have been impressive on their home turf, winning 10 of their 16 matches so far, which will give them huge confidence that they can emerge victorious from their penultimate match of the season.
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Gaziantep have blown hot and cold throughout the course of the season, but their form down the final stretch has yielded more lows than highs off the back of a fourth consecutive loss in Friday's clash against Alanyaspor.
Despite dominating for large spells of the game with 60% of the ball, Selcuk Inan's men were unable to fashion out enough clear-cut chances to break the deadlock and conceded a second-half strike from Andraz Sporar seven minutes after the restart.
A win last time out would have mathematically guaranteed GFK's top-flight safety, although it is highly unlikely they are sucked into any relegation scrap given their seven-point cushion from the bottom four.
On course for a seventh straight Super Lig campaign, Gaziantep are slowly establishing themselves at this level, having languished in the lower divisions for a lengthy period prior to gaining promotion in 2019.
Sunday's visitors have not lost five matches in a row since September 2023 and will now head out to keep that run going and possibly complete a league double over their hosts after claiming a 2-0 triumph in December's reverse fixture.
Team News
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Antalyaspor duo Andros Townsend and Kenan Piric are still unavailable for selection this weekend, and both men are not expected to feature until next season.
Emre Uzun and Erdogan Yesilyurt will also not play any part here due to knee injuries, while 19-year-old Burak Ingenc should also miss out as he steps up his recovery from a long-term injury.
Sander van de Streek lasted just 11 minutes in his side's most recent outing, where he had to come off through injury, making him a huge doubt for the hosts here.
Thirty-year-old Bruno Viana received his marching orders in the final knockings of Gaziantep's defeat last time out and is ineligible to play any part on Sunday.
Godfrey Stephen (leg) is also a guaranteed absentee for the away side alongside Turkish duo Arda Kizildag and Emre Tasdemir, although the latter could return to the fold soon.
Antalyaspor possible starting lineup:
Yigiter; Dursun, Kelven, Sari, Ozturk; Rakip, Kaluzinski; Vural, Van de Streek, Samudio; Larsson
Gaziantep possible starting lineup:
Dioudis; M'Bakata, Husic, Guler, Sorescu; Ndiaye, Ozcicek; Maxim, Kozlowski, Dervisoglu; Boateng
We say: Antalyaspor 1-0 Gaziantep
The last four meetings between Gaziantep and Antalyaspor have ended with only one side finding the back of the net, and we expect that to continue here.
We are also backing the home team to scrape a narrow win come the sound of the final whistle.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joshua Ojele
