The penultimate weekend of the Turkish Super Lig brings us a mid-table clash, with Gaziantep FK playing host to Kasimpasa at Gaziantep Stadyumu on Saturday evening.
The hosts will enter this match in 13th place and with 43 points after 34 league games, while the visitors are three points and four places ahead of them in the league standings.
Match preview
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Gaziantep have avoided relegation this season, currently sitting seven points clear of the drop zone with two games remaining, though they have experienced a notable dip in form in recent weeks.
Following their defeat to Alanyaspor on May 10, the club decided to part ways with Selcuk Inan as head coach and appointed Ibrahim Kursat Daloglu as caretaker manager until a suitable replacement is found during the offseason.
The Falcons played out a disappointing goalless draw against Antalyaspor last weekend, marking their third consecutive game without scoring and extending their winless run to five matches following four straight defeats.
Their current winless streak is their longest run without a victory in the top flight since the period between mid-August and late September, when they went seven games without a win, recording four losses and three draws.
The hosts have been good at home this season, though, earning 33 of their 43 points at Gaziantep Stadyumu, but they are now hoping to avoid a third straight defeat on home soil following losses to Fenerbahce and Alanyaspor in their last two games.
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Meanwhile, Kasimpasa have failed to follow up on their incredible top-five finish from last season, and with 46 points to date, they will not be able to surpass the 56-point tally they posted in 2023-24 either.
Like their upcoming opponent, the Apaches also underwent a change of leadership this season, having parted ways with Sami Ugurlu in early November after only managing two wins from their first 10 games of the campaign.
Buruk Yilmaz took the reins at the start of February, but he has struggled for consistency since arriving at the Recep Tayyip Erdogan Stadion, now holding a record of six wins, three draws and five defeats in his first 14 games.
The visitors began the season with an eight-match unbeaten run on the road in the top flight, but they have only won three of their nine league outings since the start of 2025 and conceded 18 goals during that period.
Team News
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Gaziantep will be able to welcome Bruno Viana back to the squad this week, and he is expected to slot straight back into central defence after sitting out the last match against Antalyaspor through suspension.
The hosts will be missing at least three players this weekend, including Godfrey Stephen, Arda Kizildag and Emre Tasdemir, all of whom are ruled out for the remainder of the season due to injury.
Kasimpasa have five players currently listed on their injury report, two of which are definitely ruled out for this weekend's trip to Gaziantep Stadyumu in Sadık Ciftpinar and Mortadha Ben Ouanes.
Centre-back Kamil Piatkowski and the midfield duo of Josip Brekalo and Antonin Barak, all missed the defeat to Istanbul Basaksehir last weekend, and are flagged as major doubts for this one.
Gaziantep possible starting lineup:
Bozan; Kizildag, Guler, Viana, Sorescu; Ndiaye, Soyalp; M'Bakata, Maxim, Kozlowski; Okereke
Kasimpasa possible starting lineup:
Gianniotis; Winck, Piatkowski, Ozcan, Rodrigues; Cafu; Fall, Hajradinovic, Kara, Keles; Da Costa
We say: Gaziantep 1-2 Kasimpasa
Gaziantep have been enduring a wretched run of form over the last month, now winless in five games, while failing to score in their last three. Kasimpasa, on the other hand, were bitterly unlucky to walk away empty-handed from their last match, and we feel they will be able to bounce back with a win this weekend.
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Devesh Jaganath
