Konyaspor will bid to get their quest for Champions League qualification back on track when they play host to Gaziantep on Sunday.
The hosts enter the contest in third position, with two points separating them from second place, while Gaziantep currently reside in 13th spot.
Match preview
Konyaspor's hopes of finishing in the top two have been dented in recent weeks after losing two of their last three matches.
They are battling it out with Fenerbahce for Champions League qualification and it was the Yellow Canaries who got the better of them on March 20, as Konyaspor fell to a 2-1 defeat.
Ilhan Palut's side bounced back in style, thrashing Goztepe 3-0, but they spurned the chance to build upon that result when they lost 2-1 away to Caykur Rizespor last weekend.
Zymer Bytyqi gave the visitors the advantage, but Yannick Bolasie restored parity to ensure the sides went into the break level before Konyaspor's task became a difficult one when Amilton was shown a second yellow card.
Goztepe took advantage as they hit the front through Joel Pohjanpalo, while matters got worse for Konyaspor who were reduced to nine men following Amar Rahmanovic's red card, with the defeat ensuring that Sunday's visitors dropped down to third place.
As for Konyaspor, their place in the Super Lig looks all but secured with 12 points separating them from the relegation zone.
Despite sitting in relative safety in 13th place, Erol Bulut will be imploring his side to finish the season on the front foot after experiencing a poor run of results.
Sunday's visitors have picked up one victory in their previous nine league games, with five of those nine contests ending in defeat.
They can, however, take confidence from the point that they collected from their most recent encounter, where Gaziantep held runaway league leaders Trabzonspor to a goalless draw.
Although that point was obtained on home turf and after losing five of their last six away matches, Bulut's side may be pessimistic about their chances on Sunday.
- L
- W
- W
- L
- W
- L
- L
- D
- L
- W
- L
- D
- L
- D
- L
- W
- L
- D
Team News
The hosts will have to cope without the services of Amilton and Rahmanovic, who will both miss out through suspension.
After featuring for the final half-hour against Caykur Rizespor, Soner Dikmen could come into the starting lineup for Sunday's encounter.
Bytyqi will continue to operate on the left wing, and he will be in confident mood after scoring in his last three club appearances.
Meanwhile, Gaziantep are without Torgeir Borven due to a groin problem, while an injury issue continues to sideline Hamza Mendyl.
Angelo Sagal, Ertugrul Ersoy and Papy Djilobodji all miss out with the trio suspended for the contest.
The visitors will continue with a front two made up of Joao Figueiredo and Muhammet Demir, who have scored 12 goals between them in the league this season.
Konyaspor possible starting lineup:
Sehic; Skubic, Demirbag, Bardakci, Guilherme; Hadziahmetovic, Dikmen; Michalak, Cekici, Bytyqi; Cikalleshi
Gaziantep possible starting lineup:
Guvenc; Caulker, Tosca, Olkowski; Kitsiou, Maxim, Erdogan, Soyalp, Pehlivan; Figueiredo, Demir
We say: Konyaspor 2-1 Gaziantep
Konyaspor boast the second-best home record in the Super Lig and after winning 11 of their 16 home league games this season, we think that the hosts have enough quality to edge out Gaziantep on Sunday.
Top tip
body check tags ::
Previews by email
