Fenerbahce and Galatasaray will meet on Saturday at Ulker Fenerbahce Sukru Saracoglu Stadium for the season's first installment of the most anticipated derby in the Turkish Super Lig.
It will be the 401st meeting between both sides, with the hosts winning 149 times while the visitors have won 128 times and both teams settling for a draw 55 times.
Match preview
Fenerbahce will head into the first Intercontinental derby of the season sitting in second place with 13 points, two points behind their arch-rivals and next opponents, Galatasaray after five matches.
The Yellow Canaries fell short of their rivals in a record-breaking and intensely-competed title race last season, finishing three points behind them despite accumulating 99 points across the campaign and losing just once.
What followed was Ismail Kartal leaving at the end of his contract, and the club opting for experienced and seasoned manager, Jose Mourinho, to help stop Gala from achieving a three-peat of the Super Lig.
Fenerbahce have picked up from where they stopped last season, picking up four wins and a draw in their opening five matches, but they know that they need a near-perfect campaign to achieve their aim at the end of the season.
Saturday will be an opportunity for the Yellow Canaries to overtake their rivals and inflict a first defeat of the season on them, but they have failed to pick up a home win against the Lions in the last two attempts.
Meanwhile, Galatasaray will hope they can continue their unbeaten run in what has been an impressive start to another title-defending season.
Okan Buruk's men, who won the Super Lig last season by being the first ever Turkish team to accumulate 100 points, have won all five matches, leaving them at the top of the table.
The Lions started slowly, picking up 2-1 wins in their opening two matches, but they have since stepped things up, scoring 13 goals in their last three games and conceding just twice, with a 5-1, 5-0 and 3-1 victory in those matches.
No side has scored more goals than Gala in the Super Lig so far (17), four more than Fenerbahce, who have the next-best attack in the league.
Buruk will be counting on his potent attack once again, as the Lions look to extend their 10-match away winning run in the Super Lig.
Team News
Fenerbahce will continue to be without the services of Nigerian international Bright Osayi-Samuel, who has been out of action for the past three matches following a foot injury sustained against Goztepe on August 17.
Edin Dzeko has been in impressive form for the Yellow Canaries, netting four league goals so far, and the Bosnian will be eager to add to his tally after drawing a blank in the Super Lig for the first time last match.
Dusan Tadic has scored three goals in the last two games, and the Serbian will hope to maintain his fine form in this high-stakes derby.
Galatasaray striker Mauro Icardi has missed the last two games due to injury and is expected to remain sidelined for this encounter.
Napoli loanee Victor Osimhen, who is set to return to the starting XI after missing the last game due to registration issues, will be aiming to score his first goal for Galatasaray.
Turkish winger Baris Yilmaz has found the net in each of the last four league matches, placing him joint-top of the Super Lig scoring charts – he is expected to start on Saturday and will be hoping to extend his goal-scoring streak.
Fenerbahce possible starting lineup:
Livakovic; Muldur, Becao, Soyuncu, Oosterwolde; Yuksek, Fred; Saint-Maximin, Szymanski, Tadic; Dzeko
Galatasaray possible starting lineup:
Muslera; Ayhan, Sanchez, Bardakci, Kutlu; Torreira, Sara; Yilmaz, Mertens, Akgun; Osimhen
We say: Fenerbahce 2-2 Galatasaray
Both teams are heading into this clash in fine form and have both been finding the net frequently, while keeping things tight at the back.
Given this and their recent meetings, where little has separated them, we expect this game to end in a high-scoring draw.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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