Besiktas will be hoping to continue their push towards the Turkish Super Lig top three when they take on Kasimpasa at Vodafone Park on Saturday afternoon.

The home side are currently sixth in the league table, while the visitors find themselves in 13th place, having picked up 18 points from their opening 16 games.

Match preview

Besiktas made a very strong start to the Turkish Super Lig season, winning four and drawing one of their opening five games, but things quickly began to unravel for former manager Valerien Ismael.

Out of the following six games, the Black Eagles won just one, with Ismael eventually being dismissed after a disappointing 2-1 away loss against Hatayspor, a team that are currently in the relegation zone.

Goals have not been an issue for the team that are now managed by Senol Gunes, but the defence has looked a little bit shaky at times, picking up just one clean sheet in their last six matches.

However, an advantage for Besiktas going into Saturday's game is that they are playing in front of their own fans, only losing once at Vodafone Park all season, with that coming back in September, in a 1-0 defeat to Istanbul Basaksehir.

Last time out, the Black Eagles just about got the job done at home to Adana Demirspor, winning 1-0 courtesy of a first-half Arthur Masuaku goal, the left-back's first for the club since arriving on loan from West Ham United.

Kasimpasa have had somewhat of a weird season, with one purple patch from the end of August to the beginning of October the only thing keeping them out of the relegation mix.

A maiden league victory against Hatayspor, started the Apaches off on a run of four wins in five games, only coming up short in a close 3-2 loss against Galatasaray, who are now top of the table.

Ekrem Orenc's side have managed to keep four clean sheets this term, the same amount as Besiktas, but when they have conceded, the floodgates have quite often opened, losing 4-0 to Basaksehir on the opening day, and 6-0 to Galatasaray in the following match.

Following the return from the World Cup break, there was cause for concern for Kasimpasa, as they lost their opening three matches, with all of the sides they lost to occupying places in the relegation zone.

However, the Apaches looked like a much-improved side last time out, defeating Alanyaspor 4-1 at home, with Mamadou Fall bagging a brace, his first two league goals of the campaign.

Team News

After winning their last match, there is little reason for Besiktas to make any changes, so we expect them to name an unchanged starting lineup.

However, there are a couple of long-term absentees that will continue to miss out, one of them being Romain Saiss, who is suffering with a muscle injury, so Tayyib Sanuc and Welinton should continue at centre-back.

Rachid Ghezzal also has a muscle problem, having been out since October, so Cenk Tosun is set to continue on the right-wing.

For Kasimpasa, Tarkan Serbest had to be withdrawn after just 15 minutes in the last match, being replaced by Daniel Graovac, and the Bosnian is now poised to come into the back three.

Top-scorer Stephane Bahoken has only featured as a bit-part player since the season restarted, and after the duo scored in the 4-1 victory against Alanyaspor, Mamadou Fall and Mortadha Ben Ouanes are set to keep him out of the team.

Besiktas possible starting lineup:
Gunok; Rosier, Welinton, Sanuc, Masuaku; Ucan, Josef, Tosun, Fernandes, N'Koudou; Weghorst

Kasimpasa possible starting lineup:
Taskiran; Graovac, Donk, Ozcan; Hadergjonaj, Kara, Eysseric, Engin; Ben Ouanes, Fall, Hajradinovic

We say: Besiktas 2-0 Kasimpasa

While it has been an inconsistent start to the season for Besiktas, they should have enough about them to secure a routine victory against a side rooted in mid-table.

Kasimpasa did have success at Vodafone Park back in April last season, winning 3-0, but their away record has been nowhere near as good so far this term.

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