The current top two teams in the 2024-25 Turkish Super Lig table will go head-to-head when Galatasaray welcome Samsunspor to Ram Park on Sunday afternoon.
The hosts are yet to lose a game in the current league campaign, while the visitors are unbeaten in their last seven league matches.
Match preview
Former Leicester City winger Yunus Akgun scored in the opening five minutes before Victor Osimhen netted twice in eight first-half minutes to hand Galatasaray a 3-2 win over Tottenham Hotspur in the Europa League on Thursday night.
The victory extended Gala's unbeaten run across all competitions to 13 matches, and left them unbeaten in the Europa League after four matches.
Barring their loss in the UEFA Champions League qualification playoffs, it has been an incredible start to the season for the Lions, who secured a 2-1 win over rivals Besiktas in their last Super Lig match.
It was a third straight win for Galatasaray, and it took them to 28 points at the top of the Super Lig table, three points ahead of second-placed Samsunspor, whom they will face on Sunday with the hope of extending the point gap between them.
The Lions have dominated this fixture historically with just eight defeats and 43 wins in 65 meetings, while winning the last six encounters between them.
Okan Buruk's side have been superb on home soil for a while, having won 26 of their last 28 Super Lig fixtures at home, and have only ever lost twice at Rams Park against Sunday's opposition, the most recent of which was in September 2000.
Samsunspor's impressive start to the current Super Lig season continued with a 2-0 win over Antalyaspor at Samsun 19 Mayis Stadyumu last Monday.
Carlo Holse scored his third goal in the last two matches to give the Red Lightning the lead at the stroke of half-time, while Landry Dimata extended the lead four minutes into the second half.
Thomas Reis's team are in second place, three points behind Galatasaray, though having played one extra game than the table-toppers, and they could match them on points with a win at Rams Park on Sunday.
The Red Lightning are perfect on the road so far, with five wins from the same number of away matches, scoring 12 times while conceding just twice, a form Reis would hope his side keep up as they look to win an away game against Gala in over two decades.
Team News
Left-back Ismail Jakobs will remain absent for Galatasaray as he continues his recovery from a knee injury suffered on October 21.
Mauro Icardi could also be sidelined for the rest of the campaign after rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament in Thursday's Europa League win.
Osimhen will hope to maintain his excellent scoring form, having scored in each of his last three Super Lig appearances (four goals), while he has also netted three times in his last two appearances across all competitions.
Samsunspor also have the luxury of a fully fit squad heading into this clash, with no suspensions to worry about.
Holse is the team's top scorer in the league with five goals from 11 appearances, and he will be the man to watch for the visitors on Sunday.
Galatasaray possible starting lineup:
Muslera; Ayhan, Sanchez, Bardakci, Kutlu; Torreira, Sara; Yilmaz, Mertens, Akgun; Osimhen
Samsunspor possible starting lineup:
Kocuk; Yavru, Satka, Drongelen, Bola; Bennasser, Ntcham; Dimata, Holse, Kilinc; Mouandilmadji
We say: Galatasaray 2-1 Samsunspor
Samsunspor are almost unstoppable at the moment, but they will be travelling to face a team that is operating at a higher level right now, and we believe that the home support and player quality of the hosts will help them edge the game.
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