Preview: Fenerbahce vs. Hatayspor - prediction, team news, lineups

On Sunday, sixth-placed Fenerbahce will aim to claim consecutive league victories when they welcome Hatayspor to the Sukuru Saracoglu Stadium for a Super Lig contest.

Hatayspor, who sit one point behind their hosts, can leapfrog Fenerbahce with a win on Sunday as they look to close in on the top four.

Match preview

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Fenerbahce will turn their attention back to league matters after they lost 3-2 in the first leg of their Europa Conference League knockout round playoff round tie against Slavia Prague.

On Thursday, the Yellow Canaries played host to Slavia Prague and it was the visitors who drew first blood, when Ibrahim Traore opened the scoring just before half time.

The hosts hit back through Dimitris Pelkas, but two quick goals from Oscar Dorley and Ondej Lingr gave the reigning Czech First League champions a two-goal advantage before Ferdi Kadioglu pulled a goal back late on.

Ismail Kartal's side will aim to turn that tie around when they travel to the Czech Republic next Thursday, but at the weekend they will continue their quest for a place in the top four of the Super Lig.

Having scored at least two goals in seven of their previous 10 home league games, Fenerbahce will be confident that they can breach the Hatayspor defence on Sunday.

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In their last outing, Hatayspor ended a four-game winless run in all competitions when they edged out Goztepe in a close-fought contest.

Mame Biram Diouf and Ayoub El Kaabi gave Hatayspor a two-goal advantage at half time before Halil Akbunar pulled a goal back in the 59th minute, but Omer Erdogan's side held firm to claim all three points.

Having finished in sixth place in their first ever Super Lig campaign last season, Hatayspor will be dreaming of bettering that feat this term.

Sunday's visitors enter the contest just two points adrift of the top four, but their recent away results will limit their hopes of closing that gap this weekend.

Hatayspor have lost their last three away fixtures, but what will be more of a concern is that in that period they shipped 13 goals.

Team News

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Kadioglu will miss out for Fenerbahce as he serves a one-match suspension due to an accumulation of yellow cards.

The hosts have injury concerns over a number of players including Mesut Ozil, Irfan Can Kahveci, Filip Novak and Luis Gustavo.

Kim Min-jae was withdrawn at half time in midweek due to an injury issue with the South Korea international.

As for the visitors, they are expected to be without the services of Adama Traore and Burak Camoglu due to injury problems.

After picking up an important victory last weekend, Kartal could name an unchanged lineup for the weekend encounter.

Diouf's strike against Goztepe took him to double figures for the Super Lig season, and he will look to add to that 10-goal tally when he starts against Fenerbahce.

Fenerbahce possible starting lineup:
Bayindir; Sangare, Trisserand, Szalai, Kurukalip; Yandas, Sosa, Zajc; Osayi-Samuel, Pelkas, Valencia

Hatayspor possible starting lineup:
Munir; Corekci, Sackey, Oksuz, Adekugbe; Ribeiro, Ergun, Benzia; El Kaabi, Kahraba, Diouf

We say: Fenerbahce 1-1 Hatayspor

With a just a point separating the teams in the league table, Sunday's contest is a tough one to call, but with Fenerbahce keeping one eye on the second leg of their Europa Conference League tie with Slavia Prague, we think that the hosts may be held to a point at the weekend.

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